Colorado State football fans were elated when the program was able to hire Jim Mora Jr. to become the next Rams football coach. He is, without question, the most accomplished college football coach to come to Fort Collins since former Ohio State head man Earle Bruce was hired more than three decades ago. Mora Jr.’s resume – which includes being an NFL head coach and defensive coordinator, plus being a Power Four head coach at UCLA – tops that of even the great Sonny Lubick.
Rams fans have every reason to hope and believe that the son of famous, retired NFL head coach Jim Mora Sr. will return CSU to the glory days, when Lubick’s Rams were winning conference titles and playing in big bowl games. But after the incident with now-former defensive coordinator Tyson Summers, it’s also fair to be at least a tad bit concerned about Mora Jr. following – loosely – in the footsteps of Lubick’s predecessor, Bruce.
History lesson: Bruce, who’s stellar coaching career landed him in the College Football Hall of Fame, led the Rams for four seasons, including his final season in 1992, a year that included him leading the Rams to 17-14 win over LSU in Baton Rouge. In December of 1990, Bruce’s Rams had capped off a 9-4 season with the school’s first ever Bowl win, beating Oregon 32-31 in the Freedom Bowl.
However, that final season in 1992 didn’t end well. A 5-7 mark was disappointing enough, but worse were allegations that Bruce was using “intimidation and fear” and even some low level of physical abuse to coerce players into performing even when they were injured. Keep in mind that these were “old school” philosophies and methods used by numerous head coaches back in the day, so Bruce was hardly an outlier back then. Nonetheless, he was fired at the end of the year and Lubick, the DC of the powerful Miami Hurricanes, was brought in.
No one is accusing Mora of anything similar to what Bruce did. No coach could keep any job in this day and age under those kinds of circumstances. By all accounts, Mora’s players think very highly of him, and he treats them well. He’s had success at every coaching stop he’s made.
But you now do need to wonder, at least a bit, about his assistant coaches?
Summers was never a good fit with Mora Jr, whom he’d never coached with previously. But the very public and volatile disputes between the two, starting with the sideline confrontation in San Antonio the week before and carrying over to Summers’ in-game demotion and subsequent departure seven days later, raises a question: Is Jim Mora Jr. hard to work for?
No question his standards are high – as they should be. And there’s simply no way that Mora Jr. owes Summers any type of apology. Could the situation have been handled better? Of course. Summers should have been dismissed on the Sunday following the drubbing in San Antonio. Even when that didn’t happen, demoting a coach, even in-game, is not all that uncommon. It also happened at Cal that same day… but that assistant coach, Jordan Summerville – who is still the offensive coordinator – didn’t choose to physically depart the stadium.
Being a former DC, Mora Jr. is apt to be tougher on that side of the football. By all accounts (at least so far), no other coaches who have worked with him previously have had any similar issues. It stands to reason that the more these coaches work together and the more familiar they are with Mora Jr’s system, the better everyone will function.
We’ll begin to find out exactly how well Mora Jr. can work with the rest of his staff on Thursday night, when CSU travels to San Marcos, Texas to face Texas State in a Pac 12 game that’s likely critical to the Rams’ bowl hopes. New defensive play-caller Kenny McClendon, who is also listed as the assistant head coach, has been with Mora Jr. for four years prior to coming to CSU. They should be on the same page.
However, if the Rams’ defensive issues (and that’s putting it mildly) continue, will the head coach be able to suppress his temper on the sidelines? And if not, who will be the recipient of his verbal outbursts? If McClendon gets treatment in any way similar to what happened with Summers, then there could be a problem brewing in FoCo.
Strike 3: Is CSU’s Jim Mora Jr. too tough to work for? Mile High Sports.
Hence then, the article about strike 3 is csu s jim mora jr too tough to work for was published today ( ) and is available on Mile High Sports ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Strike 3: Is CSU’s Jim Mora Jr. too tough to work for? )
Also on site :