UCLA Football Recruiting: Jim Mora Is Making Some Noise in Westwood

A new sheriff is patrolling Westwood, and it comes in the form of former NFL head coach Jim Mora. This hire, made by athletic director Dan Guerrero, was not met without some skepticism from across the college football landscape.

One question facing Mora was his ability to recruit effectively. He came to UCLA with no prior coaching experience on the college level, so that inquiry was perfectly valid. Thus far in recruiting, Mora has squelched those qualms.

His approach has been simple, yet effective. Mora has shown a great deal of passion and energy, which has resonated extremely well with recruits and their families.

In addition, Mora compiled a staff which is an impressive collection of both recruiters and coaches with NFL experience. Many of the coaches are younger, personable individuals who had existing relationships at their previous schools with recruits.

The former head coach of the Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks was able to poach coaches from SMU, Washington and Arizona State.

Those presented ties from his new staff have enabled the Bruins to accept commitments from two prospects originally committed to Washington, one committed to Arizona State, one to Boise State, one to Utah, and one to Oregon.

In total, Mora has picked up 14 verbal commitments from prospects. Two of those commitments are both four-star cornerbacks, Marcus Rios and Ishmael Adams, and one of them is the much-ballyhooed defensive tackle Ellis McCarthy.

McCarthy, a five-star prospect is an absolute monster. At 6’5” and 295 pounds, he had offers from all over the country. After initially committing to California, he switched his commitment to UCLA recently, much to the delight of the UCLA faithful.

The big defensive tackle instantly represents not only the highest ranked player to commit to UCLA, but his commitment also gives Mora some credibility in recruiting.

There also has been a change in recruiting philosophy compared to Mora’s predecessor, Rick Neuheisel. Mora is focusing on three areas for recruits: athleticism, toughness and versatility.

Many of the prospects committed to UCLA can play multiple positions. This versatility allows for the staff to have flexibility as the roster for the team shakes out. Speed is also at a premium. Thus far, he has garnered the commitments of five players that run a sub-4.5 in the 40 yard dash.

The hiring of new defensive coordinator Lou Spanos from the NFL called for a switch to a 3-4 defensive alignment. Spanos worked under the famed defensive genius Dick LeBeau for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and will look to bring the same types of exotic blitz packages that have made the Steelers defense so stingy throughout the years.

In terms of personnel, Mora has set out to strengthen the linebacker corps and has done so effectively. He took the highly rated tight end Anthony Barr and has switched him to outside linebacker. At 6’4” and 240 pounds, Barr brings impressive size and athleticism to the position.

The staff has also gotten commitments from Kenny Orjioke and Nate Iese. Both prospects will also start out playing at outside linebacker. Like Barr, they also possess impressive size (Orjioke is 6’4” and 225 pounds and Iese is 6’4” and 238 pounds). Also, UCLA just picked up a commitment from four-star defensive end/outside linebacker Jeremy Castro.

Castro was a long-time Oregon commitment, but found the allure of staying home too strong. At 6'3" 245, he'll be employed as a hybrid defensive end/outside linebacker.

According to Scout.com, UCLA now has the highest ranked recruiting class in the Pac-12.  Although the class is pretty crowded with 25 commitments, spots appear to be opening up as Mora and the staff are actively trying to bring more talent to Westwood.

Some of those names include Bryce Treggs, Simon Goines, Seth Jacobs, Aziz Shittu and Randall Goforth.

This has been a whirlwind last couple weeks for the UCLA program. Mora has injected mass amounts of enthusiasm and excitement into a program that’s lived in mediocrity for the better part of a decade.

The new head honcho in Westwood hopes to have great talent flocking to UCLA so that he can compete annually with the likes of USC, Oregon and Stanford. By the looks of this recruiting class, that aspiration might be feasible sooner than later.