The fall semester is over and it’s time for grades.
Except these aren’t grades for college courses.
These are how national pundits graded Colorado State on the hiring of Jim Mora as the next football coach of the Rams.
Here’s a look at how a handful of national outlets graded the move as Mora comes to Fort Collins to replace Jay Norvell.
ESPN
The giant sports network gave CSU an “A” grade for the hire, with Bill Connelly writing CSU isn’t “in as much of a funk as UConn was in when it hired Jim Mora, and after a couple of iffy seasons, he produced something brilliant: The Huskies won 18 games in 2024 and 2025 after winning just 19 in the previous seven seasons.”
The Athletic
Chris Vannini gave the hire a “B” grade, writing that it’s “a compliment to the hire that most observers were surprised Mora didn’t land a bigger job.
“Mora has a rare spectrum of experience, from being an NFL head coach who reached an NFC Championship Game to taking over a 1-11 UConn program and winning nine games twice. His UCLA tenure also looks better in hindsight. His ceiling as a coach may not be as high as others’, but he should be able to bring structure, planning and vision to a program that has mostly lacked it for two decades, outside of one brief spurt,” Vannini writes.
USA TODAY
Blake Toppmeyer and Matt Hayes have graded all the coaching carousel hires and both give the Mora hire a “B.”
“Although Mora spent the past few years out east, he’ll bring necessary West Coast connections to Colorado State. He played at Washington, and he coached the Seattle Seahawks after his stint with the Falcons,” Toppmeyer writes.
“Other candidates might have teased the potential of a higher ceiling, but Mora offered Colorado State a high-floor option as a steady hand for a program that’s never found its way back since Jim McElwain left more than a decade ago.”
Hayes writes that “this surprises me only because it’s strange that Mora either didn’t receive interest from Power conference schools, or didn’t want to wait for the dominoes to fall.
“I don’t want to say he’s better than Colorado State, but he most certainly has the resume and track record to land any number of Power conference jobs available. So instead of getting a young coach on the rise or a top assistant coach, CSU got a coach who has proven he can build and win.”
College Sports Wire
Tyler Nettuno of College Sports Wire gave the Mora hire a “B+” grade.
“Mora has done yeoman’s work during his time at UConn, which was one of the FBS’ most woebegone programs when he took it over in 2022. Now, the former UCLA head coach is heading back out west to take over Colorado State, which has been viewed as a sleeping giant in the Group of Five ranks but is yet to actually awaken,” Nettuno writes.
“Mora will lead the Rams into the new Pac-12, where they should be immediately able to compete for the league.”
CBS Sports
Brandon Marcello gives the hire an “A” and writes the Rams made “quite the splash in hiring (Norvell’s) replacement, poaching Jim Mora from UConn in a somewhat surprising move. Mora did nearly unthinkable in molding the Huskies into a consistent winner, and now the Rams hope he can do the same for their flailing program.”
Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle on X and Instagram @Kevin_Lytle.
