LOS ANGELES (AP) – James Madison’s Bob Chesney is expected to be hired as UCLA’s new football coach, according to multiple reports Monday.
The Bruins have not yet announced a deal for Chesney, but the No. 19 Dukes will enter the Sun Belt Conference title game against Troy on Friday at 11-1. A win would give James Madison a chance to play in the College Football Playoff.
UCLA finished this season with 3 wins and 9 losses. He replaced Deshaun Foster for three games this year under interim coach Tim Skipper. Foster went 5-10 as a stopgap replacement for Chip Kelly. He abruptly left the Bruins in February 2024.well after that year’s coaching cycle had concluded.
Kelly’s expensive and dominant six-year tenure was the latest football disappointment for the Bruins, who have won just 10 games in just three seasons and have yet to win a conference title in the 21st century. UCLA has had seven losing seasons over the past decade, going 6-12 in conference play in its first two seasons in the Big Ten.
Chesney, 48, has an impressive track record at James Madison, going 20-5 in two seasons as the replacement for Curt Cignetti. Before that, the Pennsylvania native compiled a 44-21 record in six seasons at Holy Cross in the FCS.
His success has made him one of the hottest candidates in the current coaching cycle, and UCLA quickly identified Chesney as a candidate to fix the program with great potential beyond recent accomplishments. In addition to an attractive campus in talent-rich Los Angeles, the Bruins have a full training facility in Westwood and are playing their home games at the Rose Bowl ahead of a potential move to SoFi Stadium next season.
Foster was fired when UCLA got off to a dismal 0-3 start this season despite the addition of quarterback Niko Iamareaba, a transfer from Tennessee.
Skipper, a popular veteran assistant coach, is unlikely to have led the Bruins to three straight wins. pennsylvania state universityMichigan and Maryland before the Bruins lost their final five games.
___
AP College Football: https://apnews.com/college-football
