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Jim Mora Jr., the head coach who successfully engineered an unprecedented revival of the UConn Huskies football program, is reportedly set to become the next head coach at Colorado State.

Mora leaves UConn having delivered back-to-back nine-win seasons (9-4 in 2024 and 9-3 in 2025), a feat never before achieved in program history. Before his arrival in 2022, UConn hadn’t won nine games since 2007. His overall record of 27-23 with the Huskies is a remarkable achievement for a program that had compiled only 10 total victories in the five seasons prior to his hiring in 2022.

Under Mora’s leadership, the Huskies made three bowl appearances in four years, a dramatic change from only one in the 11 years before he took over. This success extended to their home field, where the Huskies went 12-1 over the past two seasons at Rentschler Field.

Mora has compiled a 73-53 overall record across 10 seasons as a college head coach. He is taking over a Colorado State program that has recently struggled, replacing Jay Norvell who was fired after a 2-9 season in 2025.

Mora’s hiring is seen as a major statement by Colorado State, especially as the university is set to join a restructured Pac-12 Conference for the 2026 season. For Mora, the opportunity to lead a program with new conference affiliation and, reportedly, strong financial support and facilities, presented an attractive proposition.

While the Huskies are now left to find a new coach, Mora departs having fundamentally changed the program’s culture and trajectory. The next coach will inherit a dramatically improved roster, modern facilities, and a foundation of success that was not in place when Mora first arrived in 2022.

The decision to leave for Colorado State maybe surprising to Huskies fans but it should have be expected. Mora was not going to stay long term without a conference affiliation and a bigger commitment to football by the university.

Now it is up to athletic director David Benedict to find a coach who can build off of what Mora accomplished the past four seasons.