After six seasons at UCLA, Jim Mora has been fired.
The school announced the move via a release, which can be read in its entirety here.
Offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch, who joined the staff back in January after spending the previous two seasons in Ann Arbor working as Jim Harbaugh's passing game coordinator, has been named the interim head coach for the rest of the season.
In the release, AD Dan Guerrero said:
"Making a coaching change is never easy, but it's an especially difficult decision when you know that a coach has given his all to our University," said Guerrero. "Jim helped reestablish our football program, and was instrumental in so many ways in moving the program forward. While his first four seasons at UCLA were very successful, the past two seasons have not met expectations. We thank Jim and his family for his service to our school and his unquestionable commitment to our student-athletes."
The release also notes that the terms of Mora's contract will be honored by UCLA.
In six seasons leading the program, Mora was 46-30, which includes two 10-win seasons. Prior to taking the job, Mora worked a few seasons as an analyst for Fox Sports and spent the 2009 season as the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, and was also the head coach of the Falcons from 2004-2006.
At UCLA, Mora's first three teams won 9 games, and then had back-to-back ten win seasons before taking a minor step back to 8-5 in 2015, then to 4-8 in 2016 before going 5-6 heading into the final week of the 2017 season this year. Those first three seasons resulted in a record of 29-11, and the three years that followed he went 17-19, including a 13-7 mark against ranked teams.
Mora will received more than $12 million in liquidated damages to buyout his contract. UCLA announced they will honor the obligation.
A national search for Mora's replacement will begin immediately, and Guerro will be assisted by for Bruin quarterback Troy Aikman, as well as Casey Wasserman.
The chatter among coaching circles over the past few weeks has been that UCLA would be interested in Chip Kelly, James Franklin and Kevin Sumlin.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest developments.
Update> Sources tell FootballScoop UCLA reps plan to meet with Chip Kelly Monday to discuss his interest in the opening.