[washingtonismoney]

[tweet]552210948522393601[/tweet]

[washingtonismoney]

[tweet]552210948522393601[/tweet]

[BostonCard]

Tracy Pierson is well-connected to the UCLA program.  Here's his article (which was linked in the piece):

http://ucla.scout.com/story/1499038-is-m...ility?s=12

Doesn't sound like Mora is the first choice, nor is it clear that the NFL is Mora's first choice.

Also, interesting little tweet embedded in the margin:

[tweet]552201053572042752[/tweet]

So rumors of Rosen to Michigan are definitely false, since he's started school at UCLA.



BC

[BostonCard]

Tracy Pierson is well-connected to the UCLA program.  Here's his article (which was linked in the piece):

http://ucla.scout.com/story/1499038-is-m...ility?s=12

Doesn't sound like Mora is the first choice, nor is it clear that the NFL is Mora's first choice.

Also, interesting little tweet embedded in the margin:

[tweet]552201053572042752[/tweet]

So rumors of Rosen to Michigan are definitely false, since he's started school at UCLA.



BC

[Redrum]

Maybe ideal would be to interview but not get the job.  That would put the doubt in any half-aware recruit's brain that Mora is a short-timer and might not be around to coach him.  And, possibly, the discombobulation vibe that seems to hobble the Bruins would continue.  Or, maybe, get the Jets job and we pick up some UCLA commits.  Pretty late in the recruit cycle, but a guy can hope.

[Redrum]

Maybe ideal would be to interview but not get the job.  That would put the doubt in any half-aware recruit's brain that Mora is a short-timer and might not be around to coach him.  And, possibly, the discombobulation vibe that seems to hobble the Bruins would continue.  Or, maybe, get the Jets job and we pick up some UCLA commits.  Pretty late in the recruit cycle, but a guy can hope.

[washingtonismoney]

Mora seems to be positioning himself for a move up and out -- I seem to recall some chatter about Texas last year -- so this confirms the general impression that he's a short-timer if successful. There are worse fates, of course.

[washingtonismoney]

Mora seems to be positioning himself for a move up and out -- I seem to recall some chatter about Texas last year -- so this confirms the general impression that he's a short-timer if successful. There are worse fates, of course.

[stupac2]

I never thought Mora would be at UCLA for very long. Given the level of success it's actually mildly surprising he's still there. He does always talk about how much he likes coaching college, so maybe he'll stick around for a while and is just using the NFL interest as leverage. Who knows?

[stupac2]

I never thought Mora would be at UCLA for very long. Given the level of success it's actually mildly surprising he's still there. He does always talk about how much he likes coaching college, so maybe he'll stick around for a while and is just using the NFL interest as leverage. Who knows?

[BostonCard]

Mora seems to be positioning himself for a move up and out -- I seem to recall some chatter about Texas last year -- so this confirms the general impression that he's a short-timer if successful. There are worse fates, of course.

Yes.  Harbaugh was a short-timer if successful, which, all in all, none of us really minded.  If Mora can permanently turn around the UCLA program, then I'm sure Bruins fans will forgive him if he jumps, especially if his replacement provides stability.  The issue, though is that Mora did not inherit a program as bad as Harbaugh did, and hasn't improved it to the degree Harbaugh did.

Pre-Mora:
2010 (Neuheisel) 4-8
2011 (Neuheisel) 6-8

Mora:
2012 9-5
2013 10-3
2014 10-3

Pre-Harbaugh:
2005 (Harris) 5-6
2006 (Harris) 1-11

Harbaugh:
2007 4-8
2008 5-7
2009 8-5
2010 12-1

Compared to his predecessor, Mora appears to have been worth about 4-5 wins.  Compared to Harris, Harbaugh is probably worth 7 or 8 wins, maybe even 9.

BC

[BostonCard]

Mora seems to be positioning himself for a move up and out -- I seem to recall some chatter about Texas last year -- so this confirms the general impression that he's a short-timer if successful. There are worse fates, of course.

Yes.  Harbaugh was a short-timer if successful, which, all in all, none of us really minded.  If Mora can permanently turn around the UCLA program, then I'm sure Bruins fans will forgive him if he jumps, especially if his replacement provides stability.  The issue, though is that Mora did not inherit a program as bad as Harbaugh did, and hasn't improved it to the degree Harbaugh did.

Pre-Mora:
2010 (Neuheisel) 4-8
2011 (Neuheisel) 6-8

Mora:
2012 9-5
2013 10-3
2014 10-3

Pre-Harbaugh:
2005 (Harris) 5-6
2006 (Harris) 1-11

Harbaugh:
2007 4-8
2008 5-7
2009 8-5
2010 12-1

Compared to his predecessor, Mora appears to have been worth about 4-5 wins.  Compared to Harris, Harbaugh is probably worth 7 or 8 wins, maybe even 9.

BC

[OutsiderFan]

The coaches and agents that represent the college coaches would lose credibility (boy who cried wolf) if the college coaches interviewing for NFL jobs weren't serious about taking NFL jobs. 

[OutsiderFan]

The coaches and agents that represent the college coaches would lose credibility (boy who cried wolf) if the college coaches interviewing for NFL jobs weren't serious about taking NFL jobs. 

[stupac2]

Compared to his predecessor, Mora appears to have been worth about 4-5 wins.  Compared to Harris, Harbaugh is probably worth 7 or 8 wins, maybe even 9.

I've always wondered about this. I mean, Harbaugh never won that much in college without Fangio and Luck. We were clearly ascendent earlier, but do we get to 12-1 without Luck that year? I'm not so sure. While Harbaugh gets some credit for bringing in Luck, wasn't he also not the first choice of QB that year?

I've been thinking about this lately with the Niners showing basically nothing on offense, and being carried by their defense yet again. The big change between 2009 and 2010 was the defense improving, which was Fangio's work, not Harbaugh (though, yes, Harbaugh hired him, but he's also leaving him behind in SF it appears). And like I said I'm not super confident that our offense improves that much from '08 to '09 without Luck. The lack of improvement from Kaepernick is certainly interesting when thinking about this...

Anyway, that's just something I've been idly musing on as this Harbaugh-to-Michigan situation has developed. We'll see what happens.

[stupac2]

Compared to his predecessor, Mora appears to have been worth about 4-5 wins.  Compared to Harris, Harbaugh is probably worth 7 or 8 wins, maybe even 9.

I've always wondered about this. I mean, Harbaugh never won that much in college without Fangio and Luck. We were clearly ascendent earlier, but do we get to 12-1 without Luck that year? I'm not so sure. While Harbaugh gets some credit for bringing in Luck, wasn't he also not the first choice of QB that year?

I've been thinking about this lately with the Niners showing basically nothing on offense, and being carried by their defense yet again. The big change between 2009 and 2010 was the defense improving, which was Fangio's work, not Harbaugh (though, yes, Harbaugh hired him, but he's also leaving him behind in SF it appears). And like I said I'm not super confident that our offense improves that much from '08 to '09 without Luck. The lack of improvement from Kaepernick is certainly interesting when thinking about this...

Anyway, that's just something I've been idly musing on as this Harbaugh-to-Michigan situation has developed. We'll see what happens.

[BostonCard]

Well, Mora has had Hundley the last three years.  Arguably, Hundley was every bit as highly recruited as Luck.  And yet when all is said and done, not quite the career that Luck had.  Nothing to be ashamed of, of course, but I think Hundley, Mora, and the UCLA faithful probably all hoped for just a little bit more.

BC

[BostonCard]

Well, Mora has had Hundley the last three years.  Arguably, Hundley was every bit as highly recruited as Luck.  And yet when all is said and done, not quite the career that Luck had.  Nothing to be ashamed of, of course, but I think Hundley, Mora, and the UCLA faithful probably all hoped for just a little bit more.

BC

[stupac2]

Oh, don't mistake me, I'm not arguing that Mora is as good as Harbaugh. Just wondering if Harbaugh is as good as we think he is. It's kind of a self-evidently silly argument since he's had the most successful first 4 years of any NFL head coach, which should definitely set your priors pretty strongly toward his being great, but it's just been nagging at me...

We have plenty of evidence that Mora is a good-not-great coach. Which makes him an ideal candidate for the Jets, really.

[stupac2]

Oh, don't mistake me, I'm not arguing that Mora is as good as Harbaugh. Just wondering if Harbaugh is as good as we think he is. It's kind of a self-evidently silly argument since he's had the most successful first 4 years of any NFL head coach, which should definitely set your priors pretty strongly toward his being great, but it's just been nagging at me...

We have plenty of evidence that Mora is a good-not-great coach. Which makes him an ideal candidate for the Jets, really.

[dabigv13]

Would Hundley under Harbaugh have turned into Luck? I suppose it's possible, but I doubt it. In any case, I think Harbaugh definitely was fortunate to have Luck to build on, but don't forget that Harbaugh beat USC with Tavita Pritchard as QB. Harbaugh's offense was very novel and well crafted to our offense.

And yeah, I think Luck would probably have turned into an NFL star with or without Harbaugh, though I'm not sure he'd be so successful, so early.

[dabigv13]

Would Hundley under Harbaugh have turned into Luck? I suppose it's possible, but I doubt it. In any case, I think Harbaugh definitely was fortunate to have Luck to build on, but don't forget that Harbaugh beat USC with Tavita Pritchard as QB. Harbaugh's offense was very novel and well crafted to our offense.

And yeah, I think Luck would probably have turned into an NFL star with or without Harbaugh, though I'm not sure he'd be so successful, so early.

[CowboyIndian]

Hundley is either the most overrated or underachieving QB I can remember. Either way....he's got a long way to go to become a passable NFL QB...and even farther to invite comparisons to Andrew.

[CowboyIndian]

Hundley is either the most overrated or underachieving QB I can remember. Either way....he's got a long way to go to become a passable NFL QB...and even farther to invite comparisons to Andrew.

[washingtonismoney]

I think Hundley would've developed better with a better team. His number one worst tendency is that he's a bit too quick to scramble or throw the ball away if he senses even a hint of a rush. That's understandable given the number of times he got sacked during the early years of the Mora era; I suspect if he had gone to, oh, say, Stanford, that habit never develops.

[washingtonismoney]

I think Hundley would've developed better with a better team. His number one worst tendency is that he's a bit too quick to scramble or throw the ball away if he senses even a hint of a rush. That's understandable given the number of times he got sacked during the early years of the Mora era; I suspect if he had gone to, oh, say, Stanford, that habit never develops.

[CTcard]

... since he's had the most successful first 4 years of any NFL head coach,

I don't think that is quite true, depending upon your definition.

Harbaugh 44-19-1; 69%
George Allen 40-13-3; 74%
George Seifert  52-12; 81%
Don Shula  39-16-1; 71%
Paul Brown 40-8;  83% 
There may be a few others.

On the other hand, he may have walked into the toughest situation of the lot, and by that definition be the most successful.

[CTcard]

... since he's had the most successful first 4 years of any NFL head coach,

I don't think that is quite true, depending upon your definition.

Harbaugh 44-19-1; 69%
George Allen 40-13-3; 74%
George Seifert  52-12; 81%
Don Shula  39-16-1; 71%
Paul Brown 40-8;  83% 
There may be a few others.

On the other hand, he may have walked into the toughest situation of the lot, and by that definition be the most successful.

[CTcard]

I think Hundley would've developed better with a better team. His number one worst tendency is that he's a bit too quick to scramble or throw the ball away if he senses even a hint of a rush. That's understandable given the number of times he got sacked during the early years of the Mora era; I suspect if he had gone to, oh, say, Stanford, that habit never develops.

Actually, Hundley has some of the same issues as Hogan on his down days - happy feet in the pocket and once he starts to scramble he tends to think run all the way and stops looking downfield.

More broadly, Hundley doesn't have great pocket presence or see the field all that well but is big, strong, fairly fast, a good arm, and throws a nice ball. Lots of guys go to the NFL on that or less.

[CTcard]

I think Hundley would've developed better with a better team. His number one worst tendency is that he's a bit too quick to scramble or throw the ball away if he senses even a hint of a rush. That's understandable given the number of times he got sacked during the early years of the Mora era; I suspect if he had gone to, oh, say, Stanford, that habit never develops.

Actually, Hundley has some of the same issues as Hogan on his down days - happy feet in the pocket and once he starts to scramble he tends to think run all the way and stops looking downfield.

More broadly, Hundley doesn't have great pocket presence or see the field all that well but is big, strong, fairly fast, a good arm, and throws a nice ball. Lots of guys go to the NFL on that or less.

[Bruce Wang]

That's a bummer if he leaves.  Mora at UCLA was good for us.  Good enough to steal recruits and weaken $outhernCal.  Not good enough to beat us.

[Bruce Wang]

That's a bummer if he leaves.  Mora at UCLA was good for us.  Good enough to steal recruits and weaken $outhernCal.  Not good enough to beat us.

[StanFan88]

I think it's unfair to compare any college QB to Luck.  He was the most NFL-ready QB to come out of college since Peyton Manning.

I think Hundley's success in the NFL will depend largely on the system he gets put into.

[StanFan88]

I think it's unfair to compare any college QB to Luck.  He was the most NFL-ready QB to come out of college since Peyton Manning.

I think Hundley's success in the NFL will depend largely on the system he gets put into.