Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times released a column over the weekend, expressing his belief in new UCLA Bruins head coach Bob Chesney and the new direction of the program.
Plaschke’s opinion is becoming a common belief amongst college football commentators. Given Chesney’s success at James Madison, the resources available to him at UCLA should allow for Chesney to build a contender in Westwood.
In the past UCLA has been slow to react to the NIL era, Chesney’s helping get UCLA back up to seed, giving donors a reason to believe in Bruins football. It might not be a one-year fix for the UCLA program but with Chesney at the helm, there’s reason to believe, which is something that the Bruins’ football program hasn’t had in some time.
UCLA brought in a monster transfer class and he’s built up the Bruins’ 2027 recruiting class to be one of the strongest in the nation. Chesney has shown his on-field coaching ability at JMU, leading the program to their first-ever College Football Playoff appearance. Now he’ll look to do it again in a much tougher Big Ten Conference.
Plaschke has been a vocal critic of Chesney’s boss, UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond, and Chesney’s colleague, men’s basketball head coach Mick Cronin, but the column is a ringing endorsement of Chesney.
There will be plenty of obstacles for UCLA football. Which stadium will they call home in the coming years? How will they catch up to some of the best programs in the country, who happen to reside in the Big Ten? With the 2026 season inching closer, we’ll see how many answers Chesney and the program has waiting for us.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Los Angeles Times’ Bill Plaschke believes in UCLA’s Bob Chesney
Reporting by Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire | USA TODAY Network
