Huskies Report

Nick Saban Shocked by Jim Mora’s Sudden UConn Exit

The fallout from the UConn Huskies football program’s sudden departures intensifies as Nick Saban weighs in on the growing chaos.
Shivani Menon|
Nov 15, 2025; East Hartford, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies head coach Jim Mora watches from the sideline as they take on the Air Force Falcons at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images
Nov 15, 2025; East Hartford, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies head coach Jim Mora watches from the sideline as they take on the Air Force Falcons at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | David Butler II-Imagn Images

The last episode of the Pat McAfee show turned into a spectacle of sorts. McAfee was the one to break the news of UConn head coach Jim Mora leaving to join Colorado State to Nick Saban. And Saban’s face said everything UConn fans were already thinking.

McAfee teed it up with his usual theatrics and said, “Oh, sorry, we expect a win around here. That’s the head coach at Colorado State”, before asking Saban if he’d heard the news. The College Football Hall-of-Fame didn’t even try to hide his confusion. “No, I have not heard that,” Saban said, “but I don’t know why he would do such a thing.”

And that is precisely what UConn Nation has been feeling. The worst part is that the timing couldn’t get wilder. Mora is coming off back-to-back nine-win seasons at UConn, a program that hadn’t sniffed that level since 2007. He had a Biletnikoff finalist, a quarterback playing at a near-Heisman level, and a 2025 season with no regulation losses.

In fact, McAfee hammered that point home, calling it “crazy time” and pointing out how UConn had become the surprise overachiever of the East Coast. However, McAfee did make a point that could potentially be one of the reasons Mora is leaving.

“They’re not in a league, independent just like Notre Dame, but nobody ever talks about UConn. Nobody talks about the downside of being independent. We’re starting to learn it right now. Mora goes to Colorado State. We didn’t know Colorado State was in the Jim Mora market,” said McAfee.

The Rams are heading into the Pac-12, sitting atop some of the strongest Group of Five resources, and dreaming openly about the College Football Playoff. Now, to make it to the Playoffs, they need a coach who has the experience of turning programs around. Still, Saban couldn’t quite wrap his head around it.

Despite the bizarreness of the move, Saban went on to add, “I like Jim Mora. I think he’s a really good coach, and I thought he was a good coach in the NFL as an assistant and a head coach. So it’s great for Colorado State, I think. Not so good for UConn.”

Saban is not wrong. Mora spent almost two decades in the league, coaching under legends like Don Coryell, leading the Atlanta Falcons to an NFC Championship Game. He also took the Seahawks after the Mike Holmgren era and developed Pro Bowlers across every level of the defense. And that is the pedigree he brought to Storrs.

In just three seasons, he turned the Huskies around. He led the team to three consecutive seasons of bowl eligibility in four years. And for three straight years, UConn football finally looked and played like a program with a real vision again.

To make things worse for UConn, there is a string of players who might be leaving with Mora. RB Victor Rosa will be entering the transfer portal, and so will Cam Chadwick. UConn will also see its executive director of football, Justin Cummins-Morrow, leave. So, with all these foundational pieces moving, who will steady the Huskies?

Who Will Lead UConn this Postseason?

The school’s athletic director, David Benedict, released a statement about the move. “We are grateful for Coach Mora's contributions to UConn over the past four seasons. He took on the challenge of rebuilding our football program and delivered results that exceeded expectations…Offensive coordinator Gordon Sammis will lead the team in the interim, as a national search for the next head coach at the University of Connecticut will begin immediately,” wrote Benedict.

Sammis, until now, was the offensive coordinator of the Huskies. He’s been with Mora from the rebuild’s early days, helped engineer an offense that averaged 199.2 rushing yards a game, and turned UConn’s offensive line into a team ranked 21st nationally.

Sammis is also a Broyles Award nominee, a development machine, and the mind behind a top-35 scoring offense. He is exactly the kind of coach players trust when chaos hits. As McAfee said, this is “a crazy time for coaches,” but there may still be hope for UConn.

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Don't forget to bookmark UConn Huskies on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, recruiting coverage and more!

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Shivani Menon
SHIVANI MENON

Shivani Menon is a sports journalist with a background in Mass Communication and a passion for storytelling. She has written for EssentiallySports, College Sports Network, and PFSN, covering Olympic sports like track and field, gymnastics, and alpine skiing, as well as college football, basketball, March Madness, and the NBL Draft. When she's not reporting, she's either on the road chasing sunsets or getting lost in the rhythms of electronic soundscapes.

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