Why Are TikTokers Saying 'I Am Jose Mourinho?' The Meme Explained

It seems that nowadays, you can't open TikTok without someone saying they're "José Mourinho." The sound has been proliferating in popular videos for months in skits where people make ridiculous captions and mouth along to the words "I am José Mourinho." This can be pretty bewildering if you're one of the people in the world who does not know who José Mourinho is.

Luckily, we have the explainer to give you the rundown on who José Mourinho is and how he became a TikTok audio star. With this information, we hope that we can help you decide whether you too want to be José Mourinho. Let's begin.

Who is José Mourinho?

José Mourinho is a Portuguese football (or 'soccer,' if you're a Yank) manager who is currently the coach of Italian Serie A club Roma. Since starting his managerial career in 2000, Mourinho earned a reputation as one of Europe's best managers, leading high-profile clubs including Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid to sterling seasons.

He also very openly has a high opinion of himself and is well known to talk about himself basically as if he's God's gift to football.

However, while Mourinho undoubtedly has a high opinion of himself, he also has a self-aware sense of humor about it, which brings us to the next section.

What is the "I Am Jose Mourinho" TikTok sound?

In early April 2022, Mourinho appeared in an ad for Topps stickers in which he sent up his egotistical reputation. In the ad, he begins by saying "I am José Mourinho" before running through his list of accomplishments. He then declares he will coach "all" the teams in the Euro 2024 tournament before the apparent director of the commercial corrects him and says he can merely collect stickers for all the players in the Euro 2024 tournament.

How to use I Am José Mourinho on TikTok

Beginning in late April 2022, TikTokers began taking the clip of José Mourinho introducing himself and pairing it with sketches in which they concoct a simple scheme, like putting one's head to a radiator to fake a temperature and get out of going to school. Many of the edits contained jokes about utilizing subtle tricks to get desired outcomes in romantic relationships, like getting the girl or scaring off a boy.

The sound reached the peak of its popularity in the middle of May, so it may be ill-advised to attempt to go viral with it now, though, in the past, there have been TikTok sounds that have come and gone in waves. Who knows? Perhaps you can be the next José Mourinho — or at least the reason his audio trends again.

For more information about "I Am José Mourinho," check out our entry on the meme here.