Jim Mora joined crosstown rival Lane Kiffin as the latest LA college football coach to have an issue with the media. Only this situation was slightly different.
Mora kicked the media, and UCLA’s sports information department staff, out of practice Wednesday — just for the day — because of a security breach that he felt jeopardized the team’s privacy. He blamed the issues on the “incompetence” of his staff.
“We had some issues with our SID department,” Mora said after practice.
He was sure to clarify that the ban was just for the day and not permanent.
“Our practices are open. Our practices will be open tomorrow,” Mora said. “Today’s practice was closed because we didn’t have proper security. I’m not going to jeopardize what we’re doing as a football team because of the incompetence of some people.”
Bruins Nation explains that Mora was upset that “two camera crews set up in a restricted area next to [the practice field], and Mora subsequently told the camera crews to leave, told the reporters attending practice in the media shed to leave, and also kicked out the SID.”
Uh oh, looks like we’ve got some shady spies on our hands! They could be feeding info to lowly 1-3 Colorado for Saturday’s game! Watch out now!
Even though I’m making a joke of this, I think it’s pretty unprofessional of Mora to blast the SID publicly when he could have made his point privately. This is the type of behavior that has gotten Mora in trouble in the past, but he gets a pass now because the team has done well. If they start losing, you’ll start seeing complaints.
Video via UCLA Rivals
