The Coaches

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THE COACHES: JIM MORA became head coach of the Colts on January 12, 1998. Mora earned a 93-74 regular season record with New Orleans from 1986-96. Mora now ranks as only the 27^th coach in NFL history to reach 100 career victories. Mora’s decade of success was unprecedented in New Orleans history, as he took over a franchise whose nine prior head coaches failed to produce a winning season in 19 years. Mora’s Saints won 10 or more games on four occasions (12-3, 1987; 10-6, 1988; 11-5, 1991; 12-4, 1992). His 1991 team won the NFC Western Division title. Mora guided New Orleans into the playoffs four times. Entering the 1999 season, Mora has more victories than all Saints head coaches combined (90). He fell just nine wins shy of producing 100 wins during his first 10 seasons as a head coach. Mora’s 91 victories during his first 10 years rank as the 9th-best career start in NFL history (105, Don Shula, Colts/Miami; 103, John Madden, Oakland; 101, Mike Ditka, Chicago; 101, Joe Gibbs, Washington; 98, Bud Grant, Minnesota; 97, George Allen, LA Rams/Washington; 94, Marty Schottenheimer, Cleveland/ Kansas City; 92, Bill Parcells, NY Giants/New England). At the time of his departure from the Saints, Mora stood as the most tenured head coach in all of professional sports. He is one of only 20 head coaches in NFL history to have 10 or more consecutive seasons of service with the same team. Under Mora, 17 Saints earned a total of 36 all-NFL or all-NFC selections, while 18 Saints earned a total of 36 Pro Bowl appearances.

Mora’s first professional head coaching stint was with the Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars of the USFL, where he compiled a 48-13-1 record from 1983-85. His 1983 unit was 16-4 before losing the title game to Michigan, 24-22. The Stars rebounded to post a 19-2 record in 1984, then bested Arizona, 23-3, for the USFL Championship. Mora repeated the title in 1985, as the Stars went 13-7-1 and topped Oakland, 28-24, for the crown. He was the winningest head coach in USFL history and had NFL head coaching offers from Philadelphia and the St. Louis Cardinals before he joined the Saints. Prior to the USFL, Mora had seven different collegiate and NFL posts. He was LB Coach at Stanford in 1967, then served in all defensive capacities at Colorado during his 1968-73 stint. He joined Dick Vermeil’s staff at UCLA as LB Coach in 1974, then moved to the University of Washington as defensive coordinator under Don James from 1975-77. He toiled as DL Coach with the Seattle Seahawks from 1978-81, then moved to New England for one season as defensive coordinator. Mora played TE/DE at Occidental and had a three-year hitch as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. The son of a film television editor, Mora was born May 24, 1935 in Los Angeles, Calif.

JIMMY JOHNSON was named general manager/head coach of Miami on January 11, 1996. Johnson joined Miami after posting a 51-37 mark with Dallas from 1989-93. He directed the Cowboys to Super Bowl XXVII and XXVIII victories over Buffalo. Dallas was 39-11 in his last 50 games. Johnson led Miami to an 8-8 finish in 1996, a 9-7 mark in 1997 and a 10-6 record in 1998. Johnson is 8-3 in post-season play. Johnson has succeeded NFL legends Tom Landry (270-178-6) and Don Shula (347-173-6). Johnson led the University of Miami to a 52-9 mark from 1984-88, winning the national title in 1987. A native of Port Arthur, Texas, he played collegiately at Arkansas.