Could this be the dawn of a second stretch of Sonny Lubick-style prosperity for Colorado State’s football program?
Dan Hurley thinks so.
The head basketball coach of Connecticut’s back-to-back national champions (in 2023 and 2024) said as much after hearing that the Huskies’ head football coach was leaving Storrs for Fort Collins:
“He elevated everything (at UConn). It brought hope back to a program that was in a pretty dire situation . . . It’s incredible, the job he did . . . He’s an awesome coach.”
Jim Mora Jr. was introduced on Monday at Canvas Stadium as CSU’s 25th head football coach (including two interims) in 126 years, telling a packed house that included many former players he doesn’t want to get carried away, but:
“Good times are ahead. We’re not going to put any limitations on what we can be.”
Mora Jr. comes to Fort Collins after four seasons as head coach at UConn, where he orchestrated a transformation similar to what Lubick achieved at CSU after he was hired in 1993.
In 2022, Huskies football was an afterthought at a school where even men’s basketball was hard-pressed for top-billing by Geno Auriemma’s perennially outstanding women. The program had endured 10 straight losing seasons, including 1-11 in 2021, under five head coaches., and was attracting only about 12,000 fans per game.
He leaves having engineered consecutive 9-3 seasons, compiled an overall 27-23 record, earned three bowl berths in four years, and nearly tripled home game attendance.
“We feel like we’re in a much better shape than we were four years ago,” Auriemma responded when asked for reaction to Mora Jr.’s departure. “That’s all because of what’s happened here since Jim took the job. Football’s not only fun to watch (now), it’s completely different than what people were used to.
“There’s a level of excitement. And he did what really good coaches do. He put his stamp on the program. He was able to recruit to the culture that he wanted here.”
Lubick was well-liked in Fort Collins when he served as Leon Fuller’s offensive coordinator during the 1982-84 seasons, despite winning only 12 games. So much so, a decade later his choice was cheered when he returned as head coach.
The situation at CSU immediately before Lubick was very similar to what greeted Mora Jr.
In the 11 seasons before Sonny arrived, the Rams won only 47 times and had eight losing seasons. That included back-to-back seasons of 1-11 and 1-10 in 1987-88.
In Lubick’s first season, CSU improved to 5-6. In his second year, he coached the Rams to a 10-2 record—the first of 10 straight winning seasons—and was named the national coach of the year by Sports Illustrated magazine. In 15 years, he won 108 and lost 74.
Booster Pat Stryker donated $30 million to the football program, in large measure with the requirement that the field be named in Sonny’s honor. And in 2009, Lubick was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.
Mora Jr.’s departure caused quite a stir at UConn and, somewhat surprisingly, among some in college football circles nationally.
“I don’t know why he would do such a thing,” legendary Alabama coach Nick Saban said on the Pat McAfee Show.
But Auriemma and Hurley were not surprised. Nor do they begrudge his decision.
“As far as Jim leaving, I don’t think that’s a real big shocker,” Auriemma said. “I think Jim has tremendous ties to the west, and his family is out there.
“So, it’s disappointing for our fan base and for us here. But understandable, I think, given the job that he did here.”
Added Hurley, who declined a six-year, $70 million contract offer from the Los Angeles Lakers following his second straight national collegiate championship to stay at UConn for $50 million:
“It’s emotional, and there are a lot of factors. You’re torn, because you love the place. I know Jim Mora loves UConn and his players. There’s a real emotional connection—you could see it on the sidelines with the way they competed and the seasons they had.
“But then there are other things. Family considerations. Where you’re from. Conferences. There are a lot of things in play when you have to make these choices.”
Born in Los Angeles, Mora Jr. lived in Boulder from seven through 12 when his dad was a CU Buffs assistant coach.
Also, CSU is moving to a new iteration of the Pac 12 Conference in 2026. Mora Jr. was UCLA’s head coach 2012-2017, compiling a 46-30 record and taking the Bruins to bowl games his first four seasons as head coach.
Whenever a new coach is introduced, he’s heralded as the long-term answer to that school’s future success and promises (as Mora did on Monday) to deliver. Only time will tell if this is true in his case.
But his time at UConn is cause for hope.
“Coach is as good as it gets in terms of a leader of an organization,” Hurley endorsed. “He changed the culture and the hope that he brought back to the university, the state, and the fan base with football . . . He’s an awesome coach, and he did a lot for UConn. I wish him well.”
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Denny Dressman writes a weekly sports column for The Villager. You can write to Denny at dennydressman@comcast.net.