Mora, "Jim" (James E.)
Football
b. May 24, 1935, Glendale, CA
A tight end at Occidental College in California, Mora played three years of service football after graduating and then became an assistant coach at his alma mater in 1960. He moved up to head coach four years later.
Mora, who received a master's degree in education in 1967, left Occidental after compiling an 18-9 record in three seasons and served as an assistant coach at several colleges until 1978, when he became defensive line coach for the NFL's Seattle Seahawks.
When the U. S. Football League was organized in 1983, Mora was named head coach of the Philadelphia Stars, who moved to Baltimore in 1985. He guided the team to a 48-13-1 record and two USFL championships. Mora was named coach of the year in 1984.
The league folded after the 1985 season and Mora took over the NFL's New Orleans Saints. After going 7-9-0 in his first year, Mora guided the Saints to a 12-3-0 record and the first playoff appearance in the team's history. He won the NFL coach of the year award for that accomplishment.
Moran took the Saints to the playoffs three more times, from 1990 through 1992, but they were eliminated in the first round each time. He was fired after the team had three straight losing seasons but quickly signed with the Indianapolis Colts in 1998.
With first-round draft choice Peyton Manning at quarterback, the Colts suffered through a 3-13 season in Mora's first year, but turned that around to 13-3 in 1999, only to lose in the first playoff round. After another first-round playoff loss and a 6-10 record in 2001, Mora was replaced by Tony Dungy.
A conservative coach who believes in a running game and defense, Mora has been criticized by some despite his fine regular season record (125-106), because his NFL teams never won a playof game in six appearances.
His son, Jim Mora Jr., became head coach of the Atlanta Falcons in 2004 after five years as defensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers.