Assistant coach Mora hired on as a quality control coach with the
San Diego Chargers in
1985, and moved up to assistant defensive backs coach the following year. He was promoted to defensive backs coach in
1989. In
1992, he went to the
New Orleans Saints to coach under his father, head coach
Jim E. Mora. In
1997, the younger Mora moved to the
San Francisco 49ers to coach under
Steve Mariucci, and became the 49ers'
defensive coordinator in
1999 until
2003.
Atlanta Falcons In
2004, Mora was hired by the
Atlanta Falcons as their head coach with a five-year, $7.5 million contract. He led the Falcons to a record of 11–5 and a first round bye in the playoffs. Atlanta hosted and defeated the
St. Louis Rams 47–17 in the divisional round and advanced to the
NFC Championship Game where they lost 27–10 on the road to the
Philadelphia Eagles. For his efforts Mora was honored with the NFC Coach of the year award. In
2005, the Falcons went 8–8 and Mora characterized the season as a "disappointing year." This non-winning season continued one of the NFL's strangest records – the Falcons had never had back-to-back winning seasons in the history of the franchise, a 40-year statistical oddity that no other modern professional team has matched. This record ended in 2009. Following the 2005 season, Mora signed a three-year contract extension with the Falcons, which guaranteed the final two years of his original five-year deal, and added a sixth in 2009. The national media and the Falcons fans had high expectations in the
2006 season. While in the wild card race at 7–6 in December, Atlanta lost their final three games, including two at home, and missed the playoffs for a second straight year with a 7–9 record overall. On December 14, while the Falcons were still statistically alive in their quest for the playoffs, Mora said during a radio interview with Dave "Softy" Mahler and former Huskies teammate/roommate
Hugh Millen on
Seattle sports-talk radio station
KJR-AM that, if it were offered, he would take the head coaching job at the University of Washington (a job that was not open),
"even if [the Falcons] were in a playoff run." He additionally said he was "dead serious" about his desire for the Washington job. While Mora later backpedaled and claimed that he was only kidding, team owner
Arthur Blank publicly expressed his disapproval of Mora's comments. Following the season, the Atlanta Falcons announced that they had fired Mora. Arthur Blank told the media,
Seattle Seahawks The
Seattle Seahawks hired Mora as assistant head coach and defensive backs coach on January 21, 2007. Following the 2007 season, Mora interviewed for the
Washington Redskins head coaching job after
Joe Gibbs resigned, but Mora declined the position to stay with the Seahawks. Mora was announced as the successor to
Mike Holmgren prior to the
2008 season and signed a five-year contract through the 2012 season, estimated at $4 million per year. Mora was officially named the seventh head coach in franchise history in 2009, upon Holmgren's retirement after the 2008 season. His first official press conference as the new Seahawks head coach was given on January 13, 2009, where he enthusiastically shared his vision of bringing a Super Bowl championship to Seattle and having a championship parade from the
Space Needle to the Seahawks' stadium,
Qwest Field. After going 5–11 in his only season as Seahawks head coach, Mora was fired on January 8, 2010, with three years and $12 million remaining on his contract. Mora was replaced by former
USC head coach
Pete Carroll. Mora turned to broadcasting after being fired from the Seahawks when he became a commentator with the
NFL Network. In
2014, he led UCLA to their ninth 10-win season in school history, and just the third time in their history that they have won 10 games in consecutive seasons. In 2015 he led the program to a 8-5 record, however they lost the Foster Farms Bowl to the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Because of his success at UCLA, Mora was courted by his alma mater, the
University of Washington, to fill their vacated head coaching position. During his time as head coach of the
Atlanta Falcons, Mora jokingly described the position at the University of Washington as his "dream job." Weeks later, Mora reaffirmed his intent to remain UCLA's head football coach by turning down a reputed offer for the head coaching position with the
University of Texas. Jim Mora was fired on November 19, 2017, one day after UCLA's third consecutive loss to its crosstown rival
USC. After going 29–11 through the first 3 seasons, he was 17–19 in the last 3 seasons.
UConn The
University of Connecticut hired Mora as its head football coach on November 11, 2021. Interim head coach
Lou Spanos, finished out the 2021 season, with Mora serving as an offensive assistant in the meantime. During his first season as head coach, on November 12, 2022, UConn beat AP-ranked #19
Liberty 36–33 improving their record to 6–5; Mora led UConn to their first bowl appearance since
2015. They were defeated by the
Marshall Thundering Herd in the
Myrtle Beach Bowl. After a down year in 2023, Mora led UConn to one of their best seasons in years during the
2024 season going 9-4 including a 27-14 win over
North Carolina in the
Fenway Bowl. Marking the program's first bowl game win since 2009. At the end of the year Mora was named Coach of the Year by the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston, as well as Independent/PAC12 Coach of the Year by College Football Live. In November 2025 in the midst of his second 9 win season in a row with UConn, Mora was hired as the head coach for
Colorado State.
Colorado State Colorado State University hired Mora as its 25th head football coach on November 26, 2025. ==Broadcasting career==