Jim Mora bids goodbye to UConn fans in social media post

After roughly 72 hours of silence, Jim Mora gathered his thoughts and bid his goodbye to Connecticut and the UConn football fan base.

“UConn Nation,” Mora posted on his X social media account Friday night at 8:30 p.m., “I want to thank you for four fabulous years as a UConn Husky. You embraced me and my family with warmth and care, and we will never forget the experiences we shared with all of you. We are proud of what was accomplished and we will always cheer on the Huskies.

With deep gratitude,

Jim Mora”

Mora, who engineered an epic turnaround at UConn, accepted the task of engineering another. Colorado State, which finished its season 2-10 and is moving from the Mountain West into the reconfigured Pac 12, hired Mora on Tuesday night, the news leaking out after midnight and announced by AD David Benedict on Wednesday morning.

Most UConn fans expressed appreciation for Mora’s work; UConn was 1-11 the year before he took over, 10-50 the previous six seasons. Mora led the Huskies to three bowl appearances in four seasons. Some fans, though, were miffed that Mora posted a photo of himself in Colorado State gear before ever making a statement directed at UConn.

Marc D’Amelio, a major UConn backer, particularly in the NIL space, took issue with the way Mora handled his departure, posting on X Friday afternoon.

“He’s been incredible for UConn and I’ll never question a man doing what’s best for himself and his family,” D’Amelio wrote. “What I do question is how it was handled. He built something special here, and when you’re molding young men I think it’s important to see the job through. After such a big investment in UConn Football, finishing the season and coaching us in our bowl game is all I would have asked. I also think not doing a press conference and speaking to the fans, alumni and donors who supported him, and, from what I’ve heard from some of the players I spoke to, not contacting them directly about his decision was a mistake.”

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UConn will be assigned to a bowl game in about a week. In most recent job changes, coaches do not stay to coach a bowl game, because their new school wants them to get a start on recruiting, especially the transfer market.

After Mora’s post, D’Amelio responded, “Thank you, Coach Mora, you will be missed.”

UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma, in a Zoom call with state media Friday, said Mora’s departure shouldn’t come as a shock.

“Jim has tremendous ties to the West, his family is out there, being in a conference, playing schools that are somewhat establish, there was a lot of pull that was tugging him out there. Its disappointing for our fan base, but understandable, given the job he did here. That’s the thing you’re going to have to deal with a lot of times: Tremendously successful coaches here at UConn are going to have a lot of people coming after them on a regular basis, so we shouldn’t be surprised when this occurs.”

Mora, 64, who played at Washington, coached in the NFL, and then at UCLA, where he was fired despite a 46-30 record. He was out of coaching four years, and living in Idaho, when UConn called in the fall of 2021, beginning the mutual rejuvenation process.

Jim Mora is leaving UConn. But not before he authored these unforgettable moments