Just days before taking his talents to Los Angeles, Bob Chesney entered James Madison’s locker room with a grand message: finish the job. UCLA might have secured a new playoff-proven head coach, but Chesney wasn’t ready to leave loose ends behind. Naturally, the Bruins felt the first ripple of that decision.

“I thank everybody for being here,” Bob Chesney said in his introductory press conference. “Thank you for this opportunity, and just know that we’re gonna get after it pretty quickly here.”

Chesney’s coming over from James Madison (JMU), where he did a killer job for two years. He racked up 21 wins and just five losses during his Dukes tenure.

Before that, he was crushing it at Holy Cross, too. His overall record as a head coach is pretty sweet: 132 wins and just 51 losses. Plus, he’s got eight conference championship trophies in his case. No wonder UCLA’s Bossman, Martin Jarmond, picked him over the likes of Tommy Rees or even Jedd Fisch.

Even though he’s the Bruins’ head coach now, he’s not totally ditching his old team just yet. He’s been given the green light to lead JMU in its first-round College Football Playoff game against Oregon on December 20. The former James Madison HC set his priorities straight:

“We have a little bit of work to take care of the Oregon (Ducks) coming up here this week or in two weeks. Ultimately, we’re gonna get working on a staff. We’re gonna working on making sure we start to build this thing the right way.”

Bob Chesney knows it’s not going to be a straightforward game at all. The matchup has all the makings of a David-and-Goliath showdown, especially on the Ducks’ home turf because of Oregon’s No. 8 seed. Oregon has won 22 of its last 23 games at Autzen Stadium, and Dan Lanning is 46-7 with the Ducks.

Chesney understands the stakes as James Madison prepares for its first College Football Playoff game. After that last run with his old crew, he’ll go all-in with UCLA, ready to start building something big in Westwood. He promised to assemble his coaching staff and recruit key players, and he looks forward to meeting everyone.

The former James Madison HC ended the press conference with a simple “Go Bruins.” It was a classy way to say goodbye to his former players before diving headfirst into his new big-time gig.

But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows in Westwood.

Adverse ripple effect of hiring Bob Chesney

Look, UCLA brought in Bob Chesney to fix things after a 3-9 season, but the first big move under his watch isn’t someone joining, but it’s someone leaving. Just days into Chesney’s tenure, longtime Bruins safety Croix Stewart is planning to enter the transfer portal.

According to On3’s Pete Nakos, the 6-foot-2, 202-pound defensive back is ready for a fresh start after three years at UCLA. Stewart even confirmed the news himself by reposting the report and writing a short thank-you message: “Thank you, UCLA. 2 years of eligibility.”

Stewart is one of the longest-serving members of UCLA’s defense, especially in a secondary that has seen tons of turnover. He originally joined the Bruins in 2022 as an early commit, but he never became the starting player for the Bruins or even for DeShaun Foster’s defense.

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He then had to redshirt his freshman year, played in seven games in 2023, mostly on special teams, and then appeared in ten games in 2024, recording 12 total tackles.

This season, he finally started the first two games, but his performance didn’t quite go as he had expected. The safety finished his last season of Bruins football with just two tackles.

Because he spent most of his UCLA career as a reserve and saw little opportunity to lock down a long-term starting spot, Stewart has now decided to explore other options. His decision is notable because he becomes the first player planning to dip into the transfer portal after Bob Chesney took over as head coach.