Jim Mora turns P. Diddy fight into recruiting pitch for UCLA

Jim Mora is not just a great football coach. He is also a master spin doctor. To that end, Mora was able to turn the P. Diddy kettle bell incident into a positive recruiting pitch.

Mora joined “The Dan Patrick Show” Monday and was asked about Diddy’s fight with UCLA strength coach Sal Alosi that made national headlines. Mora has managed to spin that moment of infamy into a good thing about the Bruins’ program.

“There’s going to be distractions in LA. There’s gonna be stuff that happens in LA,” Mora said. “I’ve got P. Diddy’s son, I’ve got Snoop’s son. On campus there’s always celebrities all over. There’s cameras, sometimes you walk out of our practice, TMZ’s there. It’s just the way that it is when you’re at UCLA.

“I think it’s good for our kids because it teaches them to deal with distractions. We’re playing at the Rose Bowl in front of 85,000 people against a great team like USC, you better be able to assume focus. So I think all these things teach them how to eliminate the noise and focus in on what they have to focus in on.”

That sure is a heck of a way to spin the issue for recruits. Playing for a high-profile program and being in headlines is more of what players want than being out of the spotlight. Plus, they might as well learn what it’s like to play for a pro team before making the NFL, right? That has to be appealing for players with big dreams.

H/T Football Scoop