Happy holidays—and I hope you enjoyed the first round of the College Football Playoff.
With Christmas approaching and another college football season sliding toward its next chapter, Jim Mora is beginning one of his own.
The new head coach at Colorado State joined the Y-Option podcast, fueled by our founding sponsor, 76® - keeping you on the GO GO GO so you never miss a beat, to share the why behind his decision to lead CSU in the reborn Pac-12.
What struck me most in our conversation wasn’t the résumé—NFL head coach, UCLA head coach, program rebuilder at Connecticut, mentor to generations—not even our long friendship.
It was the choice.
The decision to take on something unfinished. To step into uncertainty. To begin again—not because he had to, but because he wanted to.
Jim Mora has lived inside football his entire life. Not as a job, but as an inheritance. A family calling that shaped him as a coach, a son, a father, a husband, and a leader. From the Pac-8 days of his father’s career, to playing in the Pac-10, to coaching in the Pac-12, his journey mirrors the evolution of the sport itself.
Which is why this moment matters.
Colorado State isn’t a nostalgia play.
It’s a belief play.
Jim is stepping into a re-imagined Pac-12. Into a conference finding its footing again. Into a program searching for identity and traction in a version of college football none of us could have fully imagined five years ago.
NIL.
The portal.
Revenue sharing.
An expanded College Football Playoff.
Realignment.
For some, that landscape feels overwhelming.
For Jim Mora, it feels familiar.
He sees today’s college football ecosystem as closer to the NFL than ever before. The portal functions like free agency. Recruiting resembles a draft. Financial realities echo a salary cap. The guardrails may differ, but the principles remain the same: roster construction, culture, alignment, and adaptability.
That word—adaptability—came up again and again.
You have to have a plan.
You have to believe in fundamentals.
You have to hold standards.
And you also have to be willing to adjust—often daily—without losing your core.
Coach Mora learned that from some of the greatest to ever do it: Hall of Fame coaches and executives who shaped how he views leadership, decision-making, and sustained excellence.
But none of it works without people.
Coach Mora has always been clear about that.
Building programs. Scaling mountains. Taking on challenges without guarantees. College football continues to pull him in because of the impact—the opportunity to shape young people during some of the most formative years of their lives. To teach lessons not only through success, but through failure. To help players grow into men, not commodities.
That perspective matters now more than ever.
The mountain ahead is clear.
A new program.
A re-imagined conference.
A legitimate—though demanding—path toward competing on the sport’s biggest stages.
And a daily commitment to do the work required to turn ambition into reality.
Jim Mora isn’t chasing legacy.
He isn’t chasing comfort.
He’s chasing alignment with the work.
And maybe that’s the clearest lesson of all.
After all this time, he finally feels like he knows what he’s doing—even as he embraces the truth that the climb never ends.
I think you’ll enjoy this conversation as we all head into the holiday season, hopefully with a little time off, a good hike, or a fun surf.
On behalf of all of us at Y-Option, thank you for your love, support, and community.
Much love and stay steady,
Yogi
