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Nick Saban Mocks Jim Mora For Paying $1.5 Million To Leave UCONN For Colorado State

#College Football
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Nick Saban mocks Jim Mora for taking Colorado State job

© Nathan Giese/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images / © David Butler II-Imagn Images


Jim Mora is expected to become the next head football coach at Colorado State. That news broke on Wednesday, days after his current team’s regular season finale.

Nick Saban chimed in on the move from UCONN to Fort Collins. He mocked Mora for leaving the Huskies to the tune of $1.5 million.

Mora has been the head coach at Connecticut for four seasons. In that time, he’s produced a pair of nine-win campaigns, with an opportunity to reach the 10-win threshold in 2025, which would set a program record.

The turnaround has been impressive. Mora took over a program coming off a 1-11 output. He’s since led the Huskies to two bowl games, with a third to follow.

Now, it’s unclear if he’ll be on the sidelines for that postseason contest. He’s been linked to a new job.

Jim Mora is taking the Colorado State football gig.

The Rams fired head coach Jay Norvell midway through the 2025 season. He’d gone 18-26 across four years. Colorado State hopes that Mora can lead a turnaround much like he did at UCONN.

There are questions as to why Mora would leave a program he’s built for one that’s currently in disarray. Which job is better?

That answer has layers. On paper, the Huskies seem to be the superior program at the moment, though neither have a history of sustained success.

Digging deeper, though, the Rams have an advantage.

Jim Mora has never had a recruiting class ranked better than 95th at Connecticut. Colorado State, despite its struggles, has bested the Huskies in the national rankings each of those seasons.

The money situation is likely better at CSU, too, where the school prioritizes football above (or at least on the same level as) basketball. Pay will be higher. The NIL budget should be larger, too.

There is also a path to the College Football Playoff at Colorado State, which is set to soon join the PAC 12. UCONN is an independent, making scheduling difficult and building a postseason worthy resume impossible.

The Rams’ conference affiliation will not only provide the team respectable competition, but with automatic bids linked to CFP league tie-ins, reaching the field is attainable (see Boise State).

Nick Saban does not agree.

The coach provided his immediate thoughts on the move while appearing on the Pat McAfee Show this week. He questioned the decision.

“I don’t know why he would do such a thing,” Saban said. He continued on to add, “I like Jim Mora. I think he’s a very good football coach… That’s great for Colorado State. Not so good for UCONN.”

Regardless of Saban’s opinion, Mora is headed to Fort Collins. He is paying his former employer $1.5 million to do so.

The head coach’s buyout states that that is the amount owed should he break contract to accept a new job. He’s now done so. We’ll now await details on his next contract with Colorado State.

He should be provided a salary that bests his previous pay of $2.5 million with the Huskies.