Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
UCLA Bruins coach Jim Mora pitches recruits with a particular view of his legacy in Atlanta, where he inherited Michael Vick for three years before being fired:
The last time the Falcons won a playoff game, I was the head coach ... [Recruits] know that was the last time that the Falcons have won a playoff game ... They all wonder why the Falcons haven't won a playoff game since, and I can't answer that question. For all the success that the Falcons have had since we left, they still haven't won a playoff game.
Actually, he's remembered in Atlanta for bragging about winning back-to-back seasons for the first time in franchise history (then not doing it), pining for the Washington Huskies job while in the middle of a playoff run, clearly favoring divas like DeAngelo Hall, citing the team's yardage stats as a reason for him to keep his job, and stirring up public spats with team legends, who are scarce. We have so very few legends around here, and Mora is not one of them.
He's also remembered for all the fun stuff he did after being fired, like losing various hollering matches with professional radio hollerers and grossly calling out his own kicker. Not once have I ever heard anyone wish Mora still coached any team anywhere in the state of Georgia, not even during the end of the Bobby Petrino meet-and-greet.
Dan Reeves was the only coach to take the Falcons to the Super Bowl, and you don't hear him using that to recruit for UCLA.
0 comments
