Confident coach Chesney says he can build winner

Nine months before his debut in his first big-time college football coaching job, Bob Chesney sounded as confident as a running back with four downs to gain one yard.

- BY BEN BOLCH

Nothing could stop him, no matter the weight of the unique challenges ahead.

How did he feel about UCLA’s lack of recent football success?

"To me," Chesney said, "there is zero doubt in my mind that we can win here."

A perceived lack of institutional support?

"Alignment," Chesney said, referencing his shared vision with university officials, "was a word that continued to show up over and over and over again."

That annoying crosstown rival?

"We don’t need to be the other school in this town," Chesney said, "we need to be the school in this town and I promise that will happen here in the very, very near future."

Unflinching in his belief that he could elevate his new team to the highest [See Chesney, B9]

level, Chesney sounded a brazen, fearless tone Tuesday morning during his introduction on campus inside the Luskin Center, his words as comforting as the familiar tune of the school band that serenaded him.

The Bruins could use the swagger given their recent history. UCLA has not won a conference championship since 1998 and is coming off back-to-back losing seasons, including a 3-9 record in 2025 under predecessor DeShaun Foster and interim coach Tim Skipper.

This is a program that hasn't registered anything of national significance since Bob Toledo won 20 consecutive games in the late 1990s and Jim Mora enjoyed a blip of success in his first three seasons from 2012 to 2014 before experiencing a significant dropoff.

None of that could discourage Chesney, 48, from becoming the first sitting head coach to abandon his job to join the Bruins since Pepper Rodgers made a similar move in 1971.

“I believe in the power of UCLA,” said Chesney, who has agreed to a five-year, $33.75-million contract that will pay him an annual salary of $6.75 million.