One Step at a Time, Mora Keeps Moving Forward

He admitted the week has been a whirlwind, and quite understandably.

Jim Mora was introduced as Colorado State's 25^th football coach on Monday. On Tuesday, he returned to Connecticut to thank his team because it was the right thing to do. By Wednesday afternoon, he was in his CSU office meeting with staff. Thursday, he met with some players.

Seems chaotic, the checking of boxes, which never seem to disappear from the to-do list, more added daily. Some even in the moment. As Mora stood in the hallway of Moby Arena prior to talking with the media, there stood Ali Farokhmanesh, taking a quick phone call. Mora wanted to meet him. Add it to the list. Wait for the call to end, extend a hand and say he's happy to meet a fellow head coach and exchange a bit of banter with their respective Washington-Washington State routes. The promise of a longer, deeper discussion soon was extended from both men.

But Mora didn't use the word chaotic to describe his activity in the press conference. He chose a few other adjectives.

"It's been exciting. It's been invigorating. It's been stimulating," Mora said. "It's been … I'm lucky because (football chief of staff) Colton (Bosnos) has kept me on task. You know, I mean, he gives me notes. He's got my schedule. So, I just follow his lead.

"And so, in terms of the chaos, if you want to term it that way, I'm comfortable with it because of the people that I've met here and the way they're helping me move through it. But we have a lot to do. You know, I still want to make sure that I get a chance to meet face-to-face with every single player on this team and get to start to know them and their story and their background and what their goals are. That's really important to build that connection piece immediately."

There are so many pieces. Build a staff. Build a team. Take in a women's basketball game. Take in a men's basketball game. He has a recruiting class in place, once again tipping his cap to general manger Alex Collins, his staff and the coaching staff for keeping it together. A lot of prior commits remained true. A few others from UConn flipped.

All of the tasks carry such an importance it becomes difficult to prioritize one over the other. The only truth is they all have to get done. Soon, because there are dates coming up which stress the process.

"There's always a timeline. The timeline is midnight," Mora said with a smile. "We want to get it done by midnight and then start over."

The qualifications for both the roster and the staff are the same. Good people. Folks who care. Those who understand his belief there are no limitations on this program and what it can achieve. Mora said he's not one to usually boast, but he's not backing down from the statement he made upon being introduced that the immediate goal for his first year is to win the Pac-12 championship.

That's for later. For now, he needs a team to do it, a staff to guide it. He also needs a place to call home. He admitted that's not on his list.

His wife, Kathy, is set to arrive in Fort Collins on Sunday. The home will be her priority. Not just for them, but for the entire family. The kids are grown, but the clan is excited to have a home base in the Rocky Mountains.

"Yeah, Kathy decides, and she can't wait to get here. You know, like I said, she's coming a day early to get here, and she'll just – you know -- she'll put her suitcase down, and then she'll start, where are we going to live?" he said. "You know, how close are we going to be to the other staff members? How close am I going to be to campus? You know, is the house big enough to have players over? Do we have extra room for family? All those types of things. Those are things that we obviously consult on, but, yeah, she's in charge of that, and she's fantastic at it.

"What's most important to me is that she's happy. You know, that's important to me. The wives of football coaches and people in sports make tremendous sacrifices, and so her happiness and her being content is really important to me. I'm not going to sacrifice that."

Or anything else. His checklist was long when Mora started, and at times, it doesn't seem to be getting shorter. It's hard work but growing up in a football family and then raising one himself, it's what he knows.

And what he enjoys, because of the promise of what it can produce.

"The prospect of the result being success at the end, the prospect of seeing young men and young women that are involved in our program ascending to new heights," said Mora of what gives him energy. "The ultimate goal is to stand on a podium and hoist a trophy and do it together, and that's invigorating. That's what inspires you. I'm at the point in my career where the most important thing to me is the success of others. I've been very fortunate in this business. This business has given me everything.

"It's been every day of my life since I was born has been about football. Being born into a football family, there hasn't been a day that I've been alive to this breath I'm taking now that hasn't been about football. So football has given a ton to me, and I enjoy giving back to football and the way I give back to football is the people that are involved with football, staff and players. My ego is really fueled by their success. To me, that's liberating to feel that way at this point. I think as you're young and you're growing through this profession, you focus so much on yourself and getting to where you want to be. Sometimes you can become selfish, and then you reach a certain point in your life and it's all about how can I help the others around me. I'm legitimately and sincerely at that point, and that's a great feeling to have."

And with that, Mora looked to Bosnos for the next part of his day and was off on his way.

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