University of Connecticut Athletics
Football
- Title:
- Head Coach
Head Coach Jim Mora has transformed the UConn football program since taking the reins after the 2021 season. Mora enters his fourth season on the Huskies’ sidelines in 2025 after leading the Huskies to one of the most successful seasons in UConn football history.
Mora led the Huskies to a 9-4 record in 2024, capped by beating UNC in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl, UConn’s second trip to a post season bowl game in his three seasons. UConn's nine wins is the most for the program since 2010, also securing the first winning season since that campaign. It marked the third time in program history a UConn team has won nine games or more (2024, 2010, 2007, 2003).
The Huskies enjoyed a six-win turnaround last season while also returning to their winning ways at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field, posting a 6-1 record on their home turf last fall.
For his efforts Mora, was named The Gridiron Club of Greater Boston 2024 Head Coach of the Year. The 2024 season marked the fifth winning campaign for Coach Mora during his collegiate coaching tenure. It was also the sixth post season bowl appearance for a Mora coached team during his nine seasons at UConn and UCLA combined.
Mora was named as the head football coach of the University of Connecticut on Nov. 11, 2021 and is the 32nd head coach in the program's history, which dates back to 1896. In his first season in Storrs in 2022, Mora spearheaded a “Husky Revolution” that saw UConn finish with a 6-6 regular season record and make a return to the college football postseason for the first time since the 2015 campaign. The Huskies finished their season 5-1 on their home field at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschlar Field capped by knocking off nationally ranked Liberty to clinch bowl eligibility and set the Huskies up for an appearance in the 2022 Myrtle Beach Bowl.
Following the 2023 season, the Huskies saw the program’s first two-time All-American during the FBS era in offensive guard Christian Haynes, who garnered AP and The Sporting News All-American honors for the second consecutive season. Haynes also became the first NFL Draft pick under Mora when he was selected in the third round by the Seattle Seahawks.
Mora, 63, brings 35 years of coaching experience in both the college ranks and the NFL to Storrs. He has 13 years of head coaching experience, including six as the head coach of UCLA where he accumulated a 46-30 overall record and a 29-24 mark in Pac-12 play. Mora led the Bruins to the 2012 Pac-12 South Championship and won the 2013 Sun Bowl and 2014 Alamo Bowl. The Bruins were ranked as high as No. 7 nationally during the 2014 and 2015 seasons.Â
Under Mora, 30 Bruins were selected in the NFL Draft, including at least one first rounder in every year except one. The 30 NFL Draft selections were the most of any Pac-12 program during that time.
A 1983 graduate of the University of Washington, Mora took over for Mike Holmgren as head coach of the Seattle Seahawks in 2009. He had served as assistant head coach and defensive backs coach for Seattle in the 2007 and 2008 campaigns. The Seahawks went 10-6 and finished first in the NFC West in the 2007 season and won the Wild Card game in the playoffs.
In his initial season as the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons in 2004, Mora directed the team to an 11-5 record, becoming just the eighth rookie head coach in NFL history to win 11 games and the 11th to bring home a division title. The Falcons captured the NFC South title and earned an appearance in the NFC Championship Game for only the second time in franchise history. Mora was honored as the NFC Coach of the Year following the 2004 season.
Prior to becoming the head coach for the Falcons, Mora served on the San Francisco 49ers coaching staff from 1997-2003. He spent his last five seasons in San Francisco as the defensive coordinator. In his first year, the 49ers finished No. 1 in the NFL in total defense, No. 2 in pass defense (25 interceptions), takeaways (41) and run defense, as well as finishing No. 3 in the league in sacks (54).
The 1998 squad tied for No. 1 in the NFC and No. 4 in the NFL in interceptions, with 21. In the 2002 and 2003 seasons with San Francisco, the defense finished no lower than fourth in the NFL versus the run, and in 2003 produced 42 sacks, to tie for second in the conference. The 1997 team advanced to the NFC Championship Game and had three defensive players voted to the Pro Bowl, while the 1998 and 2002 squads captured Wild Card Game wins.
From 1992-1996, Mora worked on the staff of his father, James E. Mora, as the secondary coach with the New Orleans Saints. The Saints put together the No. 1 pass defense in the league during Mora's first two years with the team.
In 1985, Mora broke into the NFL coaching ranks with the San Diego Chargers under head coach Don Coryell. He spent seven seasons with the Chargers, advancing from the league's first quality control coaching position to defensive backs coach, while working for head coaches Coryell, Al Saunders and Dan Henning.
NFL Pro Bowlers who have played under coach Mora over the years include -- Julian Peterson, LB-Seattle and San Francisco; Marcus Trufant, DB-Seattle; Allen Rossum, DB-Atlanta; Patrick Kerney, DL-Atlanta; Roderick Coleman, DL-Atlanta; Keith Brooking, LB-Atlanta; DeAngelo Hall, DB-Atlanta; Michael Vick, QB-Atlanta; Alge Crumpler, TE-Atlanta; Warrick Dunn, RB-Atlanta; Bryant Young, DL-San Francisco; Lance Schulters, DB-San Francisco; Merton Hanks, DB-San Francisco; Eric Allen, DB-New Orleans; Tyrone Hughes, DB-New Orleans; Gill Byrd, DB-San Diego, Anthony Barr, LB-Minnesota.
Mora began his coaching career in 1984 at the University of Washington. While at UW, Mora had the opportunity to be a part of two Rose Bowl teams as a player (1981-loss to Michigan; 1982-win over Iowa), and helped the Huskies land a berth in the 1985 Orange Bowl (win over Oklahoma) as a graduate assistant coach. During his five seasons in the Husky program, Washington compiled a 48-12 overall record.
