Arizona Football: Opposing ‘Coaches Gone Wild’

September 5, 2015; Pasadena, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Jim Mora speaks to quarterback Josh Rosen (3) during the first half at the Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

UCLA head coach Jim Mora has not been given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty this season. That said, he did get some attention from the media in the pre-season. According to LA Daily’s News reporter Jack Wang, Coach Jim Mora yelled at quarterback Josh Rosen in front of the media. Was it the right move?

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If you want to look at Rosen’s first game, I would say it worked! Sports broadcasters couldn’t contain themselves after the end of UCLA’s first game of the season, you would think that Rosen could be the next Mariota. He seems to be the golden child of the Pac-12, for now at least, and there’s a good reason. Rosen’s been excellent in his last two appearances.

Interesting fact. The Rosen’s and the Mora’s are neighbors and family friends. We found out from announcers during a boring second half of the UCLA vs. UNLV game that Rosen is the son of Ivy Leaguers, who were professional Ice-Dancers. On top of that, his father is a spine surgeon who at some point was up for a huge job; the US Surgeon General post. It’s a small town, Manhattan Beach, heck Colin Cowherd lives here now as well as Coach Sarkisian and almost all fo the LA Kings.

Whatever the case, I think it worked for his young true freshman quarterback. We will never know though if Rosen tuned out Mora during the zingers being thrown in Rosen’s direction, or he needed that type of motivation.  I am assuming he tuned him out; a unique trait most teenagers have mastered.

According to LA Times Reporter Chris Foster, Mora was method acting in a sense:

"Cue Coach Jim Mora. “You’re not at … Bellflower St. John Bosco,” Mora screamed. “That’s why     you have not been named the starter.” Rosen threw another Hail Mary and Mora got colorfully descriptive: “You can’t hit an open receiver down field with no defense.” “The ‘Anointed One.’” “Go back to Bosco and beat some more [bad] teams.” Finally, Mora looked at the members of the media present and yelled, “Tell your readers that is why he has not been named the starter.” And, scene."

Wang also interviewed a former high school and current UCLA teammate of Rosen’s who thought that having his head coach yell at him probably didn’t phase Rosen:

"Sophomore safety Jaleel Wadood, who also played with Rosen in high school, figured Mora’s colorful outburst wouldn’t be a major issue for the quarterback. “He never gets rattled,” Wadood said of Rosen. “That’s what I like about him the most. Even when things are going tough, and everything’s not going his way, he’ll find a way to dig it out. He’s a pretty strong kid.”"

My problem with all of this is not how Mora said it necessarily, or what he was trying to accomplish, my problem is with what he said. And maybe, just maybe, he could have said it in front of the team, but not in front of the camera. For those of you in Tucson, Mora’s statements were aired on every major Los Angeles 11:00 news sports segment, it was big news for the night.

Next: USC Coach Steve Sarkisian