Jim Mora: 'We can' win a national title at UConn

Call him crazy if you want, but Jim Mora believes he can win a national title with the Connecticut Huskies.

No, Mora isn’t transitioning to the basketball court. In an interview with Mike Anthony of the New Haven Register, Mora elaborated on what he’s hoping to prove over his time with the Huskies, and it’s evident he has lofty expectations.

“That I can lead a team to a national championship,” Mora said, regarding what he’s hoping to prove to the college football world in Connecticut. “In the NFL, I didn’t achieve my ultimate goal of winning a Super Bowl. I got very close but didn’t ever get it done. That bothers me. At this level, I understand where we’re sitting right now. People will look at that statement and say, ‘He’s a fool. Can’t win a national championship at UConn.’ Well, I have to believe that, ultimately.

“I’m not talking about this year. But we can. And that’s what I’m working towards. Otherwise, I wouldn’t do this.”

That’s the right mindset to have, and it’ll for sure fire up Huskies fans. However, Mora recognizes it won’t be an instant turnaround, and he wants to see Connecticut move to the Power Five before anything, but he’s of the belief that the Huskies have everything they need to accomplish his goal already.

“What are things that are harder to accomplish here?” Mora said, wondering why some look down on the Huskies. “You look at our facilities, we have everything we need. The way we travel is first-class. The way we feed our players is first-class. Our ability to acquire a first-rate staff is great. I would say if there’s one thing, it’s just when we’re in a recruiting battle — and this happens too often — we’ll be in a battle and we’ll be winning that battle; and the kids come on campus and love the campus and love the facility; they meet the people and they love the people; they see our vision and they love our vision. And then a Power Five team walks in at the last minute and fulfills their dream of playing Power Five football, and we lose him. That’s really, to me, been the only obstacle.

“Every day there’s little picky things, but a true obstacle? That’s the only obstacle we’ve seen. The good news is we’ve been in the fight. We’ll start winning some of those battles. We’ll start pulling people away from the Power Five teams as we become more successful as a program.”

It may seem crazy now, but let’s check in on Jim Mora in a couple of seasons. Perhaps the Connecticut Huskies will shock some people moving forward with their progress.