Buckle up, UCLA fans. It’s January, and that means one thing in your world: Jim Mora coaching rumors.
Word circulated that the New York Jets could be interested in Mora the Younger on New Year’s Eve, and now BruinReportOnline site says that Mora will interview in New York either today or tomorrow. However, just because he’s interviewing doesn’t mean he’ll get the job.
“The Jets’ interest in Mora at this point, however, is more a case of the franchise doing its due diligence. In fact, we’ve heard that Mora isn’t among the top names on the Jets’ list of coaching candidates,” writes BruinReportOnline publisher Tracy Pierson.
Another report stated that the Jets, while interested, do not have immediate plans to interview Mora.
Pierson also writes that Mora is on a list of candidates for the San Francisco 49ers job that Jim Harbaugh walked away from last week, though he is down on said list.
Former Bills coach Doug Marrone is said to be the front-runner for the Jets job, and former Jets coach Rex Ryan is reportedly the hot name around the San Francisco job.
Thus, one has to wonder if Mora’s interest in the NFL, and the NFL’s interest in Mora, is legitimate, or just a ploy to get yet another extension out of UCLA.
“We’ve heard from an array of sources close to the situation, and the majority feel Mora is just going through the paces and that he wouldn’t mind if it helped him leverage more support out of UCLA,” writes Pierson.
Mora, 29-11 after three seasons in Westwood, signed extensions after both of his first two campaigns at UCLA. After signing a five-year, $12 million contract in 2012, Mora signed a one-year extension after a 9-5 debut and a six-year mega-extension following a 10-3 campaign in 2013. He’s currently under contract through 2019.
Still, Mora is relatively young - a spry 53 - and owns a near-.500 record with the Falcons and Seahawks, so expect him to continue leveraging his NFL cache into the best possible contract at UCLA - for as long as he’s there.
6:32 p.m. ET Update: Nevermind.We’re now hearing that Jim Mora will not interview with the New York Jets. NFL teams are contacting Mora, but he now has no interest.
— Bruin Report Online (@BruinReport) January 5, 2015