New Conference and New Coach as Rams Get Set for 2026 Season

Many, many changes will be felt this football season for Colorado State University's program.

The Rams have traded the Mountain West Conference for the Pac-12, and officially made the switch on July 1. Lawsuits were filed, and those were just settled a few days ago officially marking the end of that era and allowing the Rams to begin a new one in a new conference.

READ MORE: Jim Mora, Jr. Announced As New Colorado State Head Coach

Despite its name, the Pac-12 Conference only has nine teams at the moment: Colorado State, Boise State, California State (Fresno), Gonzaga, Oregon State, San Diego State, Texas State, Utah State and Washington State.

Six of the nine teams are new to the Pac-12 this year, most coming along with CSU from the Mountain West Conference.

In addition to a new conference, CSU football is being led by a new head coach this season, and not someone you've never heard of.

The new head coach is Jim Mora, Jr., who has quite the extensive coaching resume, including NFL head coach experience from the Atlanta Falcons back in the early 00s and spending a single season as Head Coach of the Seattle Seahawks, between Mike Holmgren and Pete Carroll.

After that, he took a few years off before joining the college ranks as Head Coach at UCLA, then UConn since the 2022 season before being hired by Colorado State this past fall.

Mora, Jr. is the son of Jim Mora, Sr., longtime NFL coach who was the Head Coach in New Orleans from 1986 to 1996, then the Indianapolis Colts from 1998-2001.

Beyond being the CSU coach's dad, how does Jim Mora, Sr. have connections to Colorado? While in Indianapolis, he was the head coach who drafted someone else we know around here: Peyton Manning.