FORT COLLINS — Jim Mora this summer discovered an added perk to being the new head football coach at Colorado State: ice cream.

“In all the places I’ve ever lived, it has the best ice cream,” Mora said of Fort Collins.

There’s just one caveat: the new Rams coach loves soft-serve ice cream.

He and his wife, Kathy, had a favorite postgame soft-serve ice cream spot during their time at UConn. When he asked ChatGPT for the best place in Fort Collins for soft-serve ice cream, it gave him Dairy Queen.

It was good, Mora said, but not different from the countless Dairy Queen locations across the country.

One day in early August, Mora was running stairs inside Canvas Stadium when he got to the top of one of the lower-level sections and discovered one of the concession stands offers soft-serve ice cream.

He took a picture and sent it to his wife before calling deputy director of athletics Scott Sidwell to ask if he could get it opened and operating for the players and staff after an upcoming scrimmage inside the stadium.

Lo and behold, Mora climbed up to the concourse to get his favorite — a chocolate and vanilla swirl on a cone — after the Aug. 15 practice.

It’s not just ice cream, though. That’s just one example of CSU as a department doing what it must to meet Mora’s demands as he tries to quickly elevate the Rams into a Pac-12 contender. 

Whether it’s the new turf inside the stadium, the apparel switch to Adidas or nutritional upgrades, Mora sees the administration doing its part to build a winning program.

“There’s great alignment here between (President) Amy Parsons and (athletic director) John Weber and (deputy athletic director) Scott Sidwell and everyone else in the athletic department,” Mora told The Denver Gazette. “I think what’s really resonated with me is that Amy and John are both graduates of CSU, so this is a passion project for them and that’s rare today in college sports. It’s bigger than just a job for them, which is really cool because they’re fully invested in the success of this program and the success of this university.”

Now 10 months into his tenure and ready for the home season opener Saturday against Wyoming (4 p.m. USA Network), Mora is equally invested, too. He knew he’d love it in Fort Collins. Colorado is a state he’s long adored, and there hasn’t been an aspect of the change that’s disappointed him so far.

“One hundred percent of what I’ve seen has confirmed why I took this job,” Mora said. “I loved UConn and the people there. This was just the right move for me at the right time. I love the community.

“My son went to CU (and) my nephew went to CSU, so this is a very familiar place for me and I was excited about getting back to this part of the country. We love it here.”

The feeling has been mutual, and that will continue as long as the Rams win games this fall. But Mora is a coach unlike CSU has had. 

Plenty of people still know him from his 20-plus years in the NFL, twice as a head coach with the Falcons and Seahawks. Plenty know him as the man who took UCLA to the Pac-12 championship game in his first season and won 29 games over his first three seasons with the Bruins. Lately, he’s the guy that delivered the first back-to-back nine-win seasons in UConn history. 

All of that experience combines into the person tasked with trying to return CSU to an era of success it hasn’t seen since Sonny Lubick.

“I would like to hope that I’ve evolved (over the years),” Mora said. “I still carry a lot of the philosophies, beliefs, work ethic, practice formula, meeting processes that we have in the NFL. I still think very much during a game like an NFL coach. I want these players to feel like they’re in an environment where they’re being taught in an NFL way, so if they do get a chance to go on that they understand what the expectations are and how tough it’s gonna be.”

From his dad, Jim E. Mora, he learned a little bit of everything. The likes of Bobby Beathard, Don Coryell and Jim Finks taught him how to efficiently run an organization and stack talented rosters. No one had a bigger philosophical impact than Bill Walsh. Mike Holmgren showed him how to talk to players with respect while still being demanding of them. 

“I’ve been around some greats and been very, very fortunate and tried to take the best of all of them and try to incorporate (it) into my style but never lose who I am,” Mora said.

It all led Mora to a moment where CSU fans dream of a brighter future with hopes of winning the Pac-12 and making the College Football Playoff. 

“Anything’s possible,” Mora said. “But we have to embrace the work ethic and the attitude and the standards that make it more of a probability because those things will help us perform better on Saturdays.”