Jim Mora May Be Best Fit to Call UCLA Bruins Defense

With Jeff Ulbrich bound for the NFL's Atlanta Falcons, UCLA head coach Jim Mora will be looking for a new defensive coordinator for the second time in as many offseasons. 

No matter who Mora tabs to take over the vacant position, he may not have to look far to find the right coach to call the Bruins defense—no further than the mirror, anyway.

Mora spent 16 years as a defensive assistant coach in the NFL, including five as defensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers. 

His defensive background has been at the heart of UCLA's 29-11 run over the past three seasons, as linebacker and 2014 Butkus Award winner Eric Kendricks discussed last season. 

"Coach Mora came in [and] preached a hard[-nosed] mentality," he said. 

Taking that mentality to another level in 2015 might require a more hands-on approach from Mora, particularly if no candidate with in-game play-calling experience and the same philosophy as Mora emerges. 

Various names have and will continue to generate buzz until the hire is announced. Former Cal and USC defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast is one.

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Pendergast spent the 2014 season out of the game after he was replaced by Justin Wilcox at USC.

Pendergast's 52 base formation encourages aggressive blitzing, a facet in which the UCLA defense thrived in 2012 and 2013 under Lou Spanos. The Bruins ranked No. 4 and No. 38 nationally in sacks, respectively. 

Similarly, Pendergast's USC defense ranked No. 25 in the nation with 34 sacks in the 2013 campaign. 

But Jack Wang of the Los Angeles Daily News reports Pendergast officially accepted an inside linebackers coaching position with the 49ers.

If not Pendergast, then Wisconsin's Dave Aranda is a native Southern Californian with western coaching ties. He also coordinated some of the nation's best defenses as an assistant to new Oregon State head coach Gary Andersen at both Utah State and Wisconsin. 

Should UCLA unsuccessfully woo a big name, Mora assuming in-game play-calling is the best alternative for 2015.  

Head coaches as play-callers are not rare. Florida State's Jimbo Fisher and Auburn's Gus Malzahn led their programs to national championship game appearances taking on such double duty. Across town, USC's Steve Sarkisian does it. 

The practice is much more common on offense, however. But should Mora take on the Bruins' game-day duties, he would not be treading on unfettered territory. 

UCLA rival USC flourished with former head coach Pete Carroll overseeing the Trojans' 4-3 Under formation from 2001 through 2005. 

Mora and Carroll came into the college ranks from similar backgrounds, both working primarily in the NFL before arriving in Los Angeles. And the comparison's been drawn repeatedly in the past, including in a 2012 Dennis Dodd piece for CBSSports.com: 

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Mora's hire has eerie similarities to That School Across Town. Eleven years ago, USC AD Mike Garrett similarly hired an out-of-work former defensive-minded NFL head coach with no ties to the program. "It's not offensive," to compare his situation to Pete Carroll, Mora says.

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As a dual head coach and defensive play-caller, Mora can apply a critical lesson from Carroll's past. 

The former USC coach relieved himself of defensive coordinating duties after the 2005 season, a campaign that ended with Texas' high-powered, spread offense giving the typically stout Trojans fits. 

Such is the very foundation of uptempo, spread offenses utilizing mobile quarterbacks. Following a loss to Oregon in October, Ulbrich said UCLA needed to evolve from the "simple" play-calling inherent with NFL-inspired defenses.

Mora's involvement in the UCLA offense as head coach could be the single greatest potential boon to him as a defensive play-caller. He has spent the past three seasons working alongside offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone, who runs an uptempo spread. 

Winning the Pac-12 is contingent on a defense's familiarity with such offenses. A head coach whose team runs the system just might be an ideal play-caller. 

Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise cited. Statistics courtesy of CFBstats.com.