Happy belated birthday to former New Orleans Saints head coach Jim Mora, who celebrated his 90th birthday over the weekend.
Mora got into coaching in 1961, first as an assistant then as head coach at Occidental (CA) College until 1966. From there, he'd be a linebackers coach at Stanford for one year before moving on to the same role at Colorado from 1968 to 1973. He'd then be the linebacker coach at UCLA for one year before being hired as defensive coordinator at Washington from 1975 to 1977.
In 1978, Mora got his first NFL job. The Seattle Seahawks would bring him in as defensive line coach, a role he'd hold until 1981. In 1982, Mora was hired as defensive coordinator by the New England Patriots. He'd be there for two years before finally getting his first chance to be a head coach after 24 years in the profession.
The expansion United States Football League ((USFL) gave Mora his first chance to be in charge as head coach of the Philadelphia Stars. Mora's Philadelphia and Baltimore Stars appeared in all three of the original USFL championship games. They won two of them, taking back-to-back titles in 1984 and 1985 before the league eventually folded. In his three years, Mora's teams had a .782 winning percentage.
Saints' First Golden Era
Tom Benson bought the New Orleans Saints and took over operations of the team in 1985. Looking for a spark, Benson hired Jim Finks as the General Manager in 1986. Finks and Benson then hired Jim Mora as their head coach in 1986, also taking excellent advantage of the dissolving of the USFL. Joining Mora were a few of his former assistant coaches with the Stars like Dom Capers, Vic Fangio, and Carl Smith.
New Orleans also managed to bring in several players that starred in the USFL. Former Stars linebacker Sam Mills was a free-agent signee. Linebacker Vaughan Johnson joined him as a first round choice in a special expansion draft. Additionally, the Saints also added quarterback Bobby Hebert, running back Buford Jordan, kick returner Mel Gray, offensive lineman Derek Kennard, and quarterback John Fourcade. When Mora and the Saints selected Pat Swilling in Round 3 of the 1986 NFL Draft, the intimidating foursome of the ''Dome Patrol'' of Rickey Jackson, Mills, Johnson, and Swilling was complete.
Prior to hiring Mora, the Saints had never had a winning season in 19 years of existence and had double-digit losses in nine of those 19 years. After a 7-9 finish in 1986, Mora guided the Saints to an incredible 12-3 record and first playoff appearance in 1987, their 20th year of operation. Mora's Saints would not have a losing season again for the next eight years.
Mora led New Orleans to the playoffs four times in a six year stretch between 1987 and 1992. Included in that was the franchise's first division championship, an NFC West title in 1991. Four times in those six years, the Saints had double-digit victories, including a then-franchise record 12 wins in 1987 and 1992.
Under Mora, the Saints annually had one of the league's top defenses led by the Dome Patrol foursome of Rickey Jackson, Sam Mills, Pat Swilling, and Vaughan Johnson. During Mora's tenure, New Orleans had a top-5 defense six times and ranked first in the NFL twice. While conservative, the Saints also had an underrated offense. Under Mora, New Orleans held a top-10 ranking in points scored six times.
Unfortunately, Mora's Saints were also known for their postseason shortcomings. The Saints did not win a playoff game under Mora, going 0-4 in the postseason with two especially heartbreaking losses at home. The NFC was also stacked during this time. San Francisco had built a dynasty and were in the same division as New Orleans. The Saints also had to compete against perennial Super Bowl contenders like the Giants, Redskins, and Bears within their own conference before the arrival of the Cowboys dynasty in the early 1990s.
Still, Jim Mora helped usher in the first 'Golden Era' of New Orleans Saints football. Between 1987 and 1992, the Saints had a 62-33 record, a winning percentage of .653. Overall, Mora had a 93-74 regular season record in 11 years with the Saints, a winning percentage of .557. No other coach in the history of the Saints were close to those numbers until the arrival of Sean Payton in 2006.
Sean Payton coached 241 games for the Saints with a winning percentage of .631 and regular season record of 152-89. Mora's 167 games and 93 victories is second in franchise history. A very distant third is Jim Haslett, who coached 96 games for New Orleans with 45 wins and a .469 winning percentage. Counting his four-year tenure with the Indianapolis Colts, Mora is one of only 31 coaches with at least 125 NFL victories.
Happy birthday to Jim Mora, and thank you for leading the first truly relevant period of New Orleans Saints football.
