Born as James Earnest Mora, the former American football coach made history as one of the best coaches who made the best track record. He served in the NFL for 15 seasons and made history by leading his team to a championship, something that had never happened before.
Due to Jim’s success as a coach, he trained his son, who followed in his footsteps, coaching various teams. Although Jim’s’ son did not make history like his father, at least he taught him a career he knew best. Here are more details regarding Jim and his family!
Jim’s Early Life
Jim Mora was born in Glendale, California, on May 24, 1935. Jim was interested in sports from a young age, prompting him to become an Eagle Scout in 1950. Jim attended Occidental College, where he was a tight-end Alpha Tau Omega fraternity member.
During Jim’s college years, he met prominent people who made it politics and sports. He was a roommate with Jack Kemp, which motivated him to play football. He graduated from college in 1957 and continued playing football.
Jim E. Mora’s Career
Jim started his career as a coach in Occidental. He was an assistant coach in 1960 before becoming Occidental’s head coach in 1964. He led the college team for three seasons while receiving his master’s degree in education, which he finalized in 1967.
After graduating, Mora left Occidental and joined Stanford as an assistant coach. He transferred a few times to various teams until the United States Football League existed in 1983 when Mora became the head coach for the Philadelphia Stars.
During Mora’s time as the Philadelphia Stars coach, he appeared in three USFL championship games and won two. In 1984, Mora was named the Best Coach of The Year and was considered among the best coaches in the history of USFL.
After the Philadelphia Stars won the 1985 USFL title, Mora was named the Head coach of the NFL’s New Orleans Saints. USFL was involved in a suit against the NFL, and after winning a small token, it was forced out of business.
When Mora became the head coach of the New Orleans Saints, the team had never performed better. The Saints had won 90 games only for nineteen seasons, and the winning record never looked better.
The Saints’ founder sold the team in 1985, and the new founder gave Mora the job of shaping the team. During Mora’s first season, he spent most of his time remaking the Saints roster. He went the extra mile, convincing several USFL players to join New Orleans.
After a lot of hard work and reforming the teams, the Saints started performing better, and they, for the first time, won several games. Mora’s dedication and coaching made him one of the best coaches. Mora spent ten years in Saints and recorded 93 wins compared to 90 wins the team had recorded in nineteen seasons. He won more games than any coach in the Saints’ history until the record was broken in 2016 by Sean Playton.
