A proud Jim Mora revels in his son’s Colorado State debut during a 35-13 win over Wyoming

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) — The 91-year-old coach soaked in the scene from the back of the room as he wore a Colorado State hat and matching shirt.

For more than three hours on Saturday night, Jim E. Mora watched his son's coaching debut for the Rams through the dual lens of a father and longtime coach.

The dad in him couldn't have been more proud as Jim L. Mora led the Rams to a 35-13 win over Wyoming. The coach in him, though, felt nervous and uneasy at times before Colorado State pulled away in the second half.

Once a coach, always a coach.

“I was really worried today,” the father said after the game, “until all that good stuff happened.”

Which he knew it would because he knows his son, who takes after his father. The younger Mora followed in his father's footsteps, learning lessons and tips from him, before branching out. They constantly talk about all things football.

Between the two of them, they've been a head coach for north of 500 games on the college and pro levels. That's not even counting all those games as an assistant coach, defensive coordinator, grad assistant, quality control coach, consultants or any other football job. Just as head coaches.

The son: NFL head coaching stints with Atlanta and Seattle, along with NCAA jobs at UCLA, UConn and now Colorado State.

The father: NFL head coaching tours with New Orleans and Indianapolis — including one iconic “Playoffs?” rant — along with a USFL job with the Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars and at Occidental College.

“He works hard at coaching. He’s smart. He knows the job,” the father said. “He knows what he needs to do to be successful. He is a good coach for the players to play for. He’s very demanding.”

All traits that the younger Mora just so happened to inherit from dad. Which is why it meant so much for the son to have family at the game and attend his postgame news conference.

“This family’s played a lot of football, been involved in a lot of football,” said the son, who arrived at Colorado State after a four-year run at UConn. “These are special moments where you get to walk in here and see your mom and your dad and your wife and your kids and their spouses and your cousins and your best friends. It’s awesome. It’s unique, it's rare, it’s humbling.”

The younger Mora grew up learning the game down the road in Boulder, Colorado, where his father served as an assistant coach for the Buffaloes. He's pleased his son ended up back in the state.

“I’ve always loved Colorado,” the elder Mora said. “I love working in the city, in the state, in the mountains.”

He's certainly planning to spend more time in Fort Collins and dispensing advice any way he can.

It's welcomed input, too. Asked how much it mean to share the victory with the “old guy," the younger Mora didn't miss a beat.

“He ain’t old,” the 64-year-old son cracked. “I’ve been doing this since the day that my mom gave birth to me. This is what we do. This is what our family has done.”

About that tough stretch in the game toward halftime that carried into the third quarter, when Wyoming turned a 14-3 deficit into a 14-13 nail-biter: “I was worried,” the dad said. “I didn’t think they were playing as good.”

Colorado State, led by quarterback Hauss Hejny, reeled off 21 straight points to take back control.

“They came on strong,” the dad said. “I was excited about that.”

The Rams started on the right note as they made their football debut as members of the Pac-12. It's a conference the Mora family knows well. The elder Mora was a longtime assistant when it was the Pac-8. The son played in the league as a defensive back for Washington when it was the Pac-10 and coached in it at UCLA as part of the Pac-12.

His father has no doubts his son will find success in the foothills of Fort Collins.

“Jim is a good man to work for and work with,” the father said. "He loves coaching football.”

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FILE - Colorado State University football head coach Jim Mora warms up before throwing the ceremonial first pitch before the Colorado Rockies host the Kansas City Royals in the first inning of a baseball game Aug. 1, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

FILE - Indianapolis Colts coach Jim Mora watches an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y., Oct. 1, 2000. (AP Photo/Don Heupel, File)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Former Florida coach Urban Meyer, whose teams won two national titles, was inducted into the Gators’ ring of honor Saturday night after the first quarter of their game against Oklahoma.

Meyer joined linebacker Wilber Marshall, running back Emmitt Smith, quarterback and coach Steve Spurrier, quarterbacks Tim Tebow and Danny Wuerffel, and defensive end Jack Youngblood in the equivalent of the program’s football hall of fame.

Tebow was the last player inducted in 2018.

“I want to thank Gator nation for your support. I want to thank our incredible coaching staff. But most importantly I want to thank some of the greatest Gator football players of all time,” Meyer said during a brief presentation on the field.

Meyer spend six seasons at Florida (2005-2010), winning national titles in 2006 over Ohio State and in 2008 over Oklahoma. His name was unveiled on the top wall behind the end zone inside the Swamp.

He recalled reading a strength book by former Nebraska coach Tom Osborne and so began an obsession with coaching. He read books on Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden, Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler.

“And then I look up there (on the wall) and said, ‘That’s always going to be there.' Very humbling,” Meyer said during a brief interview at halftime.

Meyer was 187-32 in 17 seasons at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida and Ohio State. He won 22 of 24 games at Utah before taking over at Florida. He went 65-15 with the Gators (36-12 in the Southeastern Conference) before leaving amid health issues.

He said the turning point at Florida came in his first year, when Florida lost on the road to a Spurrier-coached South Carolina team. The Gators were 7-3, but Meyer was irritated at the clowning around on the plane ride home.

“That program was really teetering,” he said. “We went two weeks of just misery, and I was fine with it. We come back two weeks later and put it all over Florida State. That flipped the program.”

Meyer landed at Ohio State two years later and won a national title with the Buckeyes in 2015.

“When he came here and spoke to our coaches’ clinic this spring, I had him spend time with our coaching staff and, you know, basically gave him the head coach’s chair for a little bit, let him lead a meeting with our staff to kind of help cast what expectations look like in Florida and what the standards are,” Florida coach Jon Sumrall said. “And, man, he deservedly is being honored this weekend.”

Meyer was asked to define the Florida standard, and it was all about results.

“It was explained to me very clearly by my boss, (athletic director) Jeremy Foley. Florida Gators win championships. It's not that complicated,” Meyer said. “It can kill you because you work so hard to do that. But that's the way it is.”

Meyer was inducted into the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame last November. The Gators planned to induct Meyer into their ring of honor to start the 2022 season against Utah, where he coached before coming to Florida. But Meyer’s lone NFL season with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2021 ended with him getting fired after allegedly kicking a player.

Meyer now works as a college football analyst for Fox Sports and has said repeatedly he no plans to return to coaching amid the ever-changing landscape of college football that includes players earning money for use of their name, image and likeness.

AP Sports Writer Mark Long contributed to this report.

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FILE - Former Florida head coach Urban Meyer watches the first half of an NCAA college football game between Florida and Tennessee, on Nov. 22, 2025, in Gainesville, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)