A good number of UCLA football fans were displeased with the athletic department’s Dec. 9 hiring of coach Jim Mora. One fan website’s headline read “By hiring Jim Mora, UCLA’s (chancellor Gene) Block and (athletic director Dan) Guerrero tell Bruin alumni to go to hell.”

While all fans weren’t as radically resistant to bringing Mora in as the new leader of their program, most of the skepticism surrounding the hire stemmed from the fact that Mora had never headed a collegiate program before and, moreover, had no experience with the world of recruiting.

Mora had just over a month to prove those fans wrong and resurrect a recruiting class that was largely in flux because of former coach Rick Neuheisel’s status.

Mora did just that, securing the No. 11 class in the country according to Scout.com as National Letter of Intent Day came to a close Wednesday. Those same skeptical fans appear ready to erect a statue of Mora before he’s coached a game.

Offensive line coach Adrian Klemm – formerly at Southern Methodist – was named Rivals.com’s 2010 non-BCS recruiter of the year while with the Mustangs. He got UCLA fans’ blood pumping as the recruiting race heated up, tweeting “8-Clap” every time he secured a verbal commit.

Mora lured ace recruiter Demetrice Martin away from Washington to be UCLA’s defensive backs coach.

“He just said, ‘Hey, I’m going to trust you guys. You guys get after it,’ and he picked it up like a wet sponge,” Martin said. “He told us to lead the way.”

Not all ties were cut with the former staff, however. Mora chose to keep defensive line specialists Angus McClure and Inoke Breckterfield around the Bruins’ football office to hang on to six signees that Neuheisel had secured before leaving.

Several assistant coaches noted that they would use Mora as a “closer” to ensure a commitment but Mora said his work was already done.

“When you walk into a home, you feel the warmth they’ve already created with the relationships they have with these people,” Mora said. “As a father of four, if any of these guys came into my home, I would trust them and trust is a big thing on a day like today because you’re getting ready to send your 18-year-old son out into the world.”