Up for the challenge
Mora embracing task of resuscitating Husky program
EAST HARTFORD — Jim Mora introduced UConn athletic director David Benedict to one of his favorite hobbies during the five days they spent together in Idaho earlier this month: skinning.
“He puts moleskin on the bottom of skis, and he climbs up these mountains that are 10,000 feet in elevation in the dark,” Benedict said. “Then he puts one of these headlamps on and skis down the hill in the darkness.
“I think he’s crazy.”
Mora likes the challenge it offers.
“Whether it’s hiking, climbing, skinning, snowshoeing, mountain biking, whatever it may be, I like to go uphill,” Mora said. “I like things that are hard. Hard things motivate me.”
It’s why Mora, 60, is embracing the challenge of resuscitating one of the country’s most woebegone college football programs.
Mora, UConn’s new coach, was formally introduced Saturday at Rentschler Field before the Huskies’ game against No. 19 Houston.
“I don’t look at one challenge as any bigger than another,” Mora said. “Hard things are hard, and I like hard things.”
Mora, the former NFL and UCLA coach, has been busy since accepting the job, connecting with high school coaches and recruits, boosters, and most importantly current players and assistants. On Wednesday, he took in the Hand-Guilford game in Madison, and on Thanksgiving he attended NFA-New
London, the nation’s longestrunning high school rivalry. He’s also been to some UConn basketball games.
“What’s important is we just create a mindset on this football team, a culture in this program that leads to success,” Mora said. “The process of getting there is going to be tough, it’s going to be hard. But like I said, I relish hard things. I embrace hard things, hard things that make me feel full.”
Mora inherits a program in
need of a massive makeover. The Huskies went 1-11 this season and have not posted a winning record since making the Fiesta Bowl in 2011 under Randy Edsall.
UConn Board of Trustees chair Dan Toscano stressed the importance of finding someone to provide leadership, a sense of direction and passion. Benedict said he had “hours upon hours” of conversations looking for the right person.
“We were fortunate that we had a lot of time,” Benedict said, “which allowed us to handle the search quite differently. Not that there’s a lot of good things that came out of COVID, but one of them is the fact that we’re much more comfortable utilizing virtual technology. Our ability to meet with people virtually was a significant enhancement as we went through the search process, and it was different than anything I’ve ever been involved in.
“The number of conversations that we had virtually was significant. … We talked to assistant coaches, coordinators, former head coaches, former NFL head coaches, current coaches. We really were able to search far and wide.”
Mora’s spent the last few weeks evaluating the program from top to bottom, and has spoken to some players individually.
“I’ve tried to be as inconspicuous as possible out of respect of the current staff and the players,” he said. “I’ve been to practice, I’ve watched the film, I’ve been to the games. One of the things that’s helped is to go on the field in the second half. I think that gives me a chance to feel the energy of the team, kind of see what players are still emotionally invested in the game or who’s kind of checking out. There hasn’t been many guys that I’ve seen checked out.”
Mora will be dealing with significant roster turnover. Junior defensive tackle Travis Jones is expected to enter the NFL draft. Junior cornerback Jeremy Lucien, another multi-year starter, intends to transfer. There’s also plenty of heavy lifting to be done on the recruiting trail.
Mora plans to be active, but smart in the transfer portal. They’ve already offered some JUCO prospects.
“I would equate it to my years in the NFL where you built through the draft and you supplemented through free agency,” Mora said. “In college, you build through recruiting and you supplement through the transfer portal. I certainly think there’s value in it as long as you do a really good job of vetting the players, not only from a skill standpoint but a personality standpoint.
“We don’t want to become a team of mercenaries. You’re trying to build, develop, maintain a culture. It’s a little easier doing that when you’re recruiting players that you get to know over the course of years and their families over the course of years rather than just a weekend with a transfer guy.”
He’ll meet with the team collectively Sunday morning.
“Some (players) have asked me some tough questions,” he said. “‘What’s my future here? What are we going to do? Who are the coaches going to be?’ As honest I can be with them, I am, but there’s certain things I’m not able to talk to them about yet. Those conversations will come.”