Posted by: Chris Vannini on December 27, 2012

The bar has been set pretty high for Jim Mora Jr. at UCLA.

In his first season in Los Angeles - and as a college head coach - the Bruins went 9-3 in the regular season with a win over USC and reached the Pac-12 Championship Game.

On Wednesday, Mora called it his best year of coaching, but not because of the success.

"This has been the best year of coaching that I've ever had," Mora said, according to ESPNLA.com. "I'm not talking about on the field, wins and losses, I'm talking about the satisfaction of working with these young men. ... I like it when a kid comes into my office and is able to share either something great that has happened in his life or needs my help with something. That's a satisfying feeling. 

"I've got 110 of those guys that I have made a commitment to and their parents to help them become the men that their families want them to be and I take it very seriously. It's been very rewarding. There's a purity, a passion, an enthusiasm at this level that is very unique."

The Bruins are in San Diego to face Baylor in the Holiday Bowl on Thursday. Playing in the home of the San Diego Chargers, Mora was asked about speculation linking him to a possible head coaching opening with the team, but didn't have much to say.

"The Chargers have a head coach who is a very good friend of mine so I'm not going to disrespect him by saying anything about that job," Mora said.

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Chris Vannini is the lead writer for CoachingSearch.com and has covered Michigan State sports for The State News, The Oakland Press and MLive.com. He writes a weekly column for the Detroit Free Press on behalf of SB Nation. Vannini lives in Big Ten country, so his foot speed is far from SEC caliber, but his pulse on coaches is hard to match. Be sure to follow @CoachingBuzz on twitter and send your feedback to chris@coachingsearch.com