 Mora in 2011 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1935-05-24)May 24, 1935 (age 90) Glendale, California, U.S. |
| Career information | |
| College | Occidental |
| Career history | |
| |
| Awards and highlights | |
| |
| Head coaching record | |
| Regular season | NFL: 125–106 (.541) USFL: 41–12–1 (.769) College: 18–9 (.667) |
| Postseason | NFL: 0–6 (.000) USFL: 7–1 (.875) |
| Career | NFL: 125–112 (.527) USFL: 48–13–1 (.782) College: 18–9 (.667) |
| Coaching profile atPro Football Reference | |
James Ernest Mora (born May 24, 1935) is an American formerfootball coach who served as ahead coach in theNational Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons. He was the head coach of theNew Orleans Saints from1986 to1996 and theIndianapolis Colts from1998 to2001. Mora was also the head coach of thePhiladelphia/Baltimore Stars of the first iteration of theUnited States Football League (USFL) during its three years of existence and led the team to all three championship games, winning two.
As an NFL head coach, Mora was known for turning the Saints and Colts, two consistently losing franchises, into perennial postseason contenders. He became the first coach to lead the Saints to a winning record and playoff berth in1987, their 21st season, earning himNFL Coach of the Year honors. However, his reputation was affected by going winless in the NFL postseason, in addition to impassioned postgame tirades and press conferences. Mora finished his career with a winning percentage of .527, the highest of NFL coaches without a playoff win. He is the father of former NFL and current collegiate head coachJim L. Mora.
Born inGlendale, California, Mora became anEagle Scout in 1950 and was presented theDistinguished Eagle Scout Award as an adult by theBoy Scouts of America.[1] Mora was atight end atOccidental College, a member of theAlpha Tau Omegafraternity, and graduated in 1957. His college roommate wasJack Kemp, an all starquarterback with theBuffalo Bills,U.S congressman fromNew York for 18 years and presidential candidate in1988. Another teammate wasRon Botchan, who went on to become a successful NFL game official.
Mora became an assistant coach at hisalma mater in 1960. He moved up to head coach of Occidental in 1964 and led the team for three seasons, compiling an 18–9 record.
Mora received amaster's degree ineducation in 1967 and left Occidental to serve as an assistant coach atStanford underJohn Ralston for the1967 season. He then spent five seasons atColorado underEddie Crowder coaching defensive ends, outside linebackers, and defensive backs,[2] one atUCLA underDick Vermeil, and three atWashington underDon James. He moved across town to the professional ranks in1978 as thedefensive line coach for the NFL'sSeattle Seahawks under head coachJack Patera. After four seasons, Mora moved to theNew England Patriots in1982 under head coachRon Meyer.
TheUnited States Football League came into existence 1983 and Mora became head coach of thePhiladelphia Stars (who moved toBaltimore in 1985). During his tenure the team compiled a 48–13–1 (.782) record, appeared in all three USFL championship games and won two of them. Mora was named Coach of the Year in 1984 and is considered by many observers to be the best coach in the short history of the USFL. Six months after the Stars won the 1985 USFL title, Mora was named head coach of the NFL'sNew Orleans Saints. The USFL was later forced out of business after winning a token award of $3 in an antitrust suit against the NFL.
Mora was hired by new Saints general managerJim Finks to turn around what had long been reckoned as the most inept franchise in the NFL. The Saints had won only 90 games in their first nineteen seasons, never tallied a winning record, and only twice had reached .500,in 1979 (the only time they finished higher than 3rd in their division)and 1983. Mora spent his first off-season remaking the Saints roster. He convinced several players from the USFL, including some from his Stars, to come to New Orleans. The imports included linebackersSam Mills andVaughan Johnson, who went on to form the inside tandem of the legendary "Dome Patrol" linebacking corps with veteranRickey Jackson and drafteePat Swilling on the outside. Mora inherited quarterbackBobby Hebert and receiverEric Martin from Phillips, and drafted running backReuben Mayes and tackleJim Dombrowski.
After a 7–9 record his first season, Mora led the Saints to a 12–3 record in1987. In week 6 of the 1987 season the Saints lost a 24–22 game tothe San Francisco 49ers, withMorten Andersen missing a last-second field goal. After the game Mora launched what became known as his "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda" speech. In his postgame press conference, Mora angrily said the following:
"They're better than we are; we're not good enough. We shouldn't be thinking about beating these 49ers; we shouldn't be talking about it, 'cause the Saints ain't good enough. And you guys shouldn't write about us being a playoff team and all thatbullstuff—that'smalarkey. We ain't good enough to beat those guys and it was proven out there today. It's that simple. We're not good enough yet. We've got a long way to go; we've got a lot of work to do; we're close, and close don't mean shit. And you can put that on TV for me. I'm tired of coming close, and we're gonna work our asses off until we ain't close anymore, and it may take some time; we're gonna get it done; we aren't in there—we aren't good enough. They're better than us—black and white, simple, fact!
"Could've, would've, should've" is the difference in what I'm talking about! The good teams don't come in and say "Could've." They get it done! All right? It's that simple! I'm tired of saying "Could've, should've, would've." That's why we ain't good enough yet! 'Cause we're saying "Could've" and they ain't!
I'm pissed off right now. You bet your ass I am. I'm sick of coulda, woulda, shoulda, coming close, if only."
The Saints responded by winning their last nine games, notching the franchise's first-ever winning record and playoff berth. The Saints had the second-best record in the entire league. Unfortunately for them, the 49ers had the league's best record (13–2), and also played in theNFC West. Therefore, the Saints were a wild-card team (since 1987 was astrike-shortened season with replacement games, the Saints and 49ers had identical 10–2 records in regular season non-replacement games). Nonetheless, the Saints were able to play their first playoff game at home, which they lost, 44–10, to theMinnesota Vikings. Mora received theNFL Coach of the Year Award.
Mora's Saints finished 10–6 in1988, and were part of a three-way tie for first in the NFC West withthe San Francisco 49ers andLos Angeles Rams. However, the 49ers won the division on tie-breakers with a season sweep of the Saints, and the Saints lost the wild-card tiebreaker with the Rams and missed the playoffs. In1989, the Saints again had a winning record (9–7) but finished 3rd in the NFC West and missed the playoffs. It was during the 1989 season when Mora had another remembered tirade after a game, when he scolded a sportswriter on not knowing what goes on during the week during practice.
You guys really don't know when it's good or bad, when it comes right down to it. ... And I'm promising you right now, you don't know whether it's good or bad. You really don't know, because you don't know what we're trying to do, you guys don't look at the films, you don't know what happened, you really don't know. Youthink you know, but you DON'T-KNOW, and you never WILL, okay?
Thereafter his Saints teams made the playoffs three more times. In1990, the Saints only finished 8–8, but managed to make the playoffs as a wild card. They lost in the first round of the playoffs tothe Chicago Bears, 16–6.
In1991, Mora's Saints finished 11–5 and won the team's first division title. However, the Saints lost again in the first round of the playoffs. They lost at home tothe Atlanta Falcons 27–20, in spite of finishing one game ahead of the Falcons in the NFC West during the regular season. In1992, Mora led the Saints to its second 12-win season in six seasons, finishing 12–4. They were a wild card again, however, as theSan Francisco 49ers finished 14–2. For the second time in two years, the Saints were upset at home in the first round of the playoffs, asthe Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Saints 36–20. This would be the Saints' last playoff game during Mora's tenure, leaving him with an 0–4 playoff record in New Orleans. The Saints would not win a playoff game until2000.
(Following a 33–3 exhibition loss tothe Houston Oilers in 1992 marred by poor kick returns) "I'm sure people vomited in the stands after watching our kicking game. I'm sure they vomited in the stands. That was just horrible, embarrassing. Was that on national television? (told it was blacked out locally) Thank God."
1993 marked the beginning of the decline of Mora's Saints. The team started the season 5–0 and appeared to be headed to the postseason again; however, after the Saints' bye week, the team went into a tailspin and went only 3–8 in the final 11 games, including losing four out of their last five. 1993 was Mora's last season of .500 or better in New Orleans. In the Week 16 game at home againstthe New York Giants, Saints quarterbackWade Wilson was injured onMonday Night Football and fans were cheering that fact, prompting an angry retort:
"You know, I'd like to begin my remarks by saying this, and I mean this in all sincerity; I've been coaching for 34 years, and tonight I saw and heard one of the most disgusting, rudest, sick, demonstrations in my entire career. Probablythe worst. When Wade Wilson got hurt, I actually looked up into the stands and saw people standing, clapping, and cheering when he was laying [sic] on the ground with a knee injury. And I say this, those are some sick, sick,sick people! Mentally sick! I thought it was horrible, disgusting, embarrassing, shameful, it stunk! People aresick when they do something like that; absolutely friggin'sick! Guy's out there busting his ass like all of our guys were, gets his knee blown up, not badly hopefully, and they're standing and cheering and clapping! Those are sick people! Sick in the head! They oughta get their ass thrown right out of the stadium!"
After two 7–9 seasons in1994 and1995, Mora appeared increasingly frustrated with his team's situation in New Orleans. The Saints' defense went into a steep decline, negating the passing heroics of quarterbackJim Everett, acquired from the division rival Los Angeles Rams in 1994 for a seventh-round draft choice. Everett came to the Saints shortly before his infamous incident withJim Rome onESPN2 when Rome insulted the quarterback by calling himChris Evert, a reference to Jim Everett's lack of toughness.
The1996 season started off very badly. The Saints lost their first five games, including an embarrassing 28–14 loss at hometo the then-winless Arizona Cardinals in whichLeShon Johnson rushed for 214 yards, a Cardinals franchise record which has since been broken byBeanie Wells in 2011. Following a road loss to theBaltimore Ravens, the Saints won back-to-back home games vs. theJacksonville Jaguars andChicago Bears, but the turnaround was a mirage. After the Saints were beaten 19–7 by theCarolina Panthers on October 20, a loss which put them at 2–6 midway through the season, Mora walked out of the postgame press conference in disgust after a profanity-laced tirade. His outburst became famous on sports highlight reels for years to follow, largely because of Mora's use of the phrase "Diddley Poo." On the Saints' performance, Mora said the following:
"Well, what happened was, that second game we got our ass kicked. Errr—the second half, we just got our ass totally kicked. We couldn't do diddly ... poo offensively. We couldn't make a first down. We couldn't run the ball; we didn't try to run the ball. We couldn't complete a pass—we sucked. The second half, we sucked. We couldn't stop the run. Every time they got the ball, they went down and got points. We got our ass totally kicked in the second half—that's what it boiled down to. It was a horseshit performance in the second half. Horseshit. I'm totally embarrassed and totally ashamed. Coaching ... [all] ... [unintelligible] ... Coaching did a horrible job. The players did a horrible job. We got our ass kicked in that second half. It sucked. It stunk. That's as simple as I can tell you."
The next day, Mora resigned; linebackers coachRick Venturi finished out the season. The Saints finished the season at 3–13, their worst season since going 1–15 in1980. Venturi was replaced by veteranChicago Bears coachMike Ditka. Mora's 93 wins in just over ten years in New Orleans are three more than the Saints had won in their first 19 seasons combined. He won more games than any other coach in Saints history untilSean Payton surpassed his record in 2016.[3]
Mora served as acolor analyst forNBC in 1997, and he replacedLindy Infante as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts for1998. The team struggled to a 3–13 mark in his first year with rookiePeyton Manning learning the ropes atquarterback but had an amazing turnaround to 13–3 in1999, thanks in large part to the addition of rookie running backEdgerrin James. At the time, this turnaround was the "largest" in NFL history. The Colts lost their first playoff game in the AFC Divisional Playoffs (the team received a first-round bye to advance to the Divisional Playoffs) tothe Tennessee Titans, which dropped Mora's all-time NFL postseason record to 0–5.
The Colts finished 10–6in 2000 and made the playoffs once again, but the team lost a wild-card round playoff game to theMiami Dolphins by a score of 23–17 in overtime. This defeat dropped Mora's overall postseason record to 0–6. Ironically, just hours after Mora lost what would be the sixth and final playoff game of his career, his former team, the New Orleans Saints, won their first-ever playoff game.
On November 25,2001, after a lackluster five turnover plagued lossto the San Francisco 49ers that dropped the Colts to 4–6, Mora made his famous "playoffs?" tirade. Of the Colts' performance, Mora told the media not to "blame that game on the defense.” Mora cited the five turnovers the Colts' offense made (one of which resulted in a touchdown and three others that set up field position for touchdown-scoring drives) as a cause of the loss, saying that a team that turns the ball over five times in one game is unlikely to beat a high school or college team, "much less an NFL team.”[4]
Later in the press conference, in response to Tim Bragg, a reporter forWRTV, who asked a question about the Colts' chances for making the playoffs, Mora said in a high-pitched, incredulous tone:[5]
"Playoffs? Don't talk about—playoffs?! You kidding me?Playoffs?! I just hope we can win a game!Another game!"
Hampered by a defense that allowed the most points in the league (30.4 per game), Indianapolis only won two more games that year. Some sources believed that Mora could have saved his job if he had fired one (or more) of his coordinators (especiallydefensive coordinatorVic Fangio), but he refused to do so. Mora was fired after the season[6] and replaced with ex-Buccaneers coachTony Dungy. Dungy, who served as head coach of the Colts from 2002–2008, made the playoffs in all of his seven seasons with Indianapolis. Along the way, he would lead the team to five straight division titles (2003–07) and a Super Bowl victory (2006).
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Mora favored a conservative approach to the game, relying on a strong running game and solid defensive play. Perhaps more than any other teams, the Saints teams of the late 1980s embodied his coaching style. Those teams were led by the "Dome Patrol" linebacking corps. This unit, consisting ofRickey Jackson,Sam Mills,Vaughan Johnson, andPat Swilling, became known as one of the best four-man linebacking corps inNFL history. Those same Saints teams also had a strong running game, mostly led byRueben Mayes andDalton Hilliard, as well as a conservative but efficient passing game led by quarterbackBobby Hebert and wide receiverEric Martin. During his time as the Colts' head coach, Mora was able to benefit from having an explosive, more potent offense, featuring quarterbackPeyton Manning, running backEdgerrin James, and wide receiverMarvin Harrison. Manning, James, and Harrison have all earned induction into thePro Football Hall of Fame.
In Mora's 11 seasons with the Saints, he won 55.6% of his games for a team that had never recorded a winning record prior to his arrival. And during his four seasons with the Colts, he built a then-struggling team into a respectable playoff contender. Despite his overall solid regular season record coaching both the Saints and Colts (125–106), the biggest criticism of Mora has been his teams' inability to win any playoff games in six appearances. His critics, both among fans and media reporters, often blamed his lack of success in the postseason to his conservative approach.
Critics continued to argue that this conservative approach prevented his teams from closing out big games against good teams, like theMarty Ball approachMarty Schottenheimer used during his coaching career. The most frequent complaint was that his teams' offenses would no longer be aggressive late in these football games. They accused him of trying to run out the clock and not make mistakes and over-relying on his defense to hold the lead (instead of trying to build on the lead and score more points). Critics argued that this aspect of his conservative strategy backfired on him. They point to the fact that his teams had second half leads in four of his six playoff games, but they won none of them. In three of those games, Mora's teams had leads in the fourth quarter.
Another factor that worked against Mora during his coaching career with the Saints was how his team played in the NFC West with theSan Francisco 49ers during theirdynasty era and earlier in his tenurea strong LA Rams outfit. Twice his Saints team recorded twelve wins without winning the division. Another time, his Saints went 10–6 and still missed the playoffs.
In anNFL Network program naming Jim Mora the #10 "Coach Who Never Won a Championship," formerPhiladelphia Eagles offensive lineman Brian Baldinger said of the Saints' playoff loss to the Eagles in 1992, "We beat 'em. But that's only because they called the dogs off. Whatever reason, they called the dogs off in the second half. I don't know what Jim Mora was thinking about that day." In that game, the Saints led 17–7 at halftime and 20–10 after the 3rd quarter. However, the Eagles scored 26 unanswered points in the fourth quarter and won the game 36–20.
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Occidental Tigers(Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference)(1964–1966) | |||||||||
| 1964 | Occidental | 5–4 | 3–2 | 3rd | |||||
| 1965 | Occidental | 8–1 | 5–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1966 | Occidental | 5–4 | 3–2 | 4th | |||||
| Occidental: | 18–9 | 11–4 | |||||||
| Total: | 18–9 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| Team | Year | Regular Season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| PHI | 1983 | 15 | 3 | 0 | .833 | 1st in Atlantic Div. | 1 | 1 | .500 | Lost toMichigan Panthers in USFL Championship Game |
| PHI | 1984 | 16 | 2 | 0 | .889 | 1st in Atlantic Div. | 3 | 0 | 1.000 | USFL Champions |
| BAL | 1985 | 10 | 7 | 1 | .583 | 4th in Eastern Con. | 3 | 0 | 1.000 | USFL Champions |
| Total | 41 | 12 | 1 | .648 | 7 | 1 | .875 | |||
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| NO | 1986 | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 4th inNFC West | — | — | — | — |
| NO | 1987 | 12 | 3 | 0 | .800 | 2nd in NFC West | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost toMinnesota Vikings inNFC wild card game |
| NO | 1988 | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 3rd in NFC West | — | — | — | — |
| NO | 1989 | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 3rd in NFC West | — | — | — | — |
| NO | 1990 | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 2nd in NFC West | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost toChicago Bears inNFC Wild Card Game |
| NO | 1991 | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 1st in NFC West | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost toAtlanta Falcons inNFC Wild Card Game |
| NO | 1992 | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 2nd in NFC West | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost toPhiladelphia Eagles inNFC Wild Card Game |
| NO | 1993 | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 2nd in NFC West | — | — | — | — |
| NO | 1994 | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 2nd in NFC West | — | — | — | — |
| NO | 1995 | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 5th in NFC West | — | — | — | — |
| NO | 1996 | 2 | 6 | 0 | .250 | (resigned) | — | — | — | — |
| NO total | 93 | 74 | 0 | .557 | 0 | 4 | .000 | |||
| IND | 1998 | 3 | 13 | 0 | .188 | 5th inAFC East | — | — | — | — |
| IND | 1999 | 13 | 3 | 0 | .813 | 1st in AFC East | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost toTennessee Titans inAFC Divisional Game |
| IND | 2000 | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 2nd in AFC East | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost toMiami Dolphins inAFC Wild Card Game |
| IND | 2001 | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 4th in AFC East | — | — | — | — |
| IND total | 32 | 32 | 0 | .500 | 0 | 2 | .000 | |||
| Total[7] | 125 | 106 | 0 | .541 | 0 | 6 | .000 | |||
In 2003, Mora became an on-air analyst forNFL Total Access, the primary analysis show on the newly launchedNFL Network.
Mora was asports radiocommentator forFox Sports Radio'sGameTime Saturday andGameTime Sunday with Dan Moriarty. On Thanksgiving Thursday, November 23,2006, Mora made some critical comments about the Atlanta Falcons' quarterbackMichael Vick which became controversial because the Falcons were coached at the time by Mora's son,Jim L. Mora.Craig Shemon ofFox Sports Radio called Vick a "coach killer" and Mora quickly agreed with that assessment, saying that Vick was not a good passer and expressing concern for his son's prospects of keeping his head coaching job while the popular Vick was the team's quarterback[8] (The younger Mora was indeed fired a month later).