Jim Mora thinks teams with spread offenses have never won a national title
UCLA’s hire of Michigan quarterbacks coach Jedd Fisch as offensive coordinator became official on Thursday.
Fisch, who helped run Jim Harbaugh’s pro-style attack at UM, was brought in by Bruins coach Jim Mora after Kennedy Polamalu was fired in November following the team’s disappointing 4-8 season. The Bruins struggled mightily on offense this year, and Mora told reporters Thursday he ruled out a specific offensive style when searching for Polamalu’s replacement: the spread.
Why? Because, as far as he knows, a spread team “has never won a national championship.”
UCLA's Jim Mora: "I didn't really talk to anyone that runs a spread. As far as I know, spread teams have never won a national championship."
— Greg Beacham (@gregbeacham) January 5, 2017
Mora didn't talk to any spread OCs. "As far as I know, no spread teams have won a national championship and that’s our goal here," Mora said
— Kyle Bonagura (@BonaguraESPN) January 5, 2017
Wait, what?
A ton of teams run offenses with spread elements these days, and quite a few have won national titles. Urban Meyer alone — at Florida in 2006 and 2008 and at Ohio State in 2014 — has three titles under his belt running a spread-based offense. There are quite a few others, too. Oklahoma, way back in 2000 with Josh Heupel at quarterback, torched defenses with a spread air raid attack. The Vince Young-led Texas squad in 2005 ran an iteration of the spread. Auburn, with Cam Newton in 2010, did, too.
No matter the inaccuracy of Mora’s statement, Fisch is in place now to boost a UCLA offense that ranked 91st in the country in total offense this year. When Mora promoted Polamalu after Noel Mazzone (and his spread offense) left for Texas A&M after the 2015 season, Mora said he wanted his team to morph into a “multifaceted offense incorporating tight ends and fullbacks.” That failed miserably with the Bruins finishing No. 127 out of 128 FBS teams in rushing offense. With the running game struggling, UCLA averaged more than 40 passing attempts per game in its final six contests.
Per ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura, Fisch said Thursday he wants to run an offense that uses “multiple position groups, multiple tempos and will be designed with the current roster’s strengths in mind.” Fisch was an assistant for four NFL teams, including a two-year stint as the offensive coordinator of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2013 and 2014, before joining Harbaugh’s staff at Michigan.
At Michigan, Fisch helped mold Jake Rudock and Wilton Speight into really solid Big Ten quarterbacks. With stud Josh Rosen expected to return to the field from shoulder surgery for UCLA in 2017, Fisch has a great talent to work with.
For more UCLA news, visit BruinSportsReport.com.
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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
