Labeled “the East Coast guy,” Bob Chesney is trying to crack Southern California’s football network. So when nearly 180 high school coaches showed up at UCLA on April 25, lining the sidelines and end zones at Spaulding Field, it wasn’t just a clinic. It was the Bruins new head coach flipping the script and he isn’t subtle about it.
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“The knock on me is going to be, I’m an East Coast guy coming out to the West Coast,” Bob Chesney told Jim Rome. “How do I know anybody? How can we possibly recruit? You don’t know what you’re doing out here. All those things are what’s been said and rightfully so.”
That shows a coach acknowledging reality. Not only that, he’s building a strategy to tackle it. Instead of pretending he already had the relationships, Bob Chesney started from scratch but did it on his terms because he knows trust, familiarity, and long-standing ties wins recruitment.
“For me it was a matter of not just the, we weren’t going to be able to win on the quantity of our relationship, but maybe the quality,” he added. “So we had these guys come in there, 180 of them from four different States.”
"We weren't going to be able to win on the quantity of our relationship, but maybe the quality." @CoachBobChesney explains why he hosted 175 high school coaches at @UCLAFootball practice this spring.
Bob Chesney turned that event into an immersive, two-day experience where the coaches sat in meetings, broke down film, and watched drills explained in real time. Then they walked outside and saw those same drills executed on the field. Later, they gathered again casually, sharing stories, building camaraderie, and forming impressions.
“So I think the quality of time that we’re spending with them is important,” he said. “We’ve had every single one of our practices and meetings open to the local coaches to make sure that they had a chance to grow and learn who we are and try to make that match. Once they feel what we do at practice and what type of people we are, then hopefully they begin to entrust their players with us.”
That’s the idea behind Bob Chesney’s curious coach invite. He isn’t just recruiting players. He’s recruiting high school coaches who decide where trust gets placed. If they buy in, pipelines open. And so far, it’s looking good. Kory Minor, head coach at Bishop Amat and a former Notre Dame LB, sounded impressed.
“I’ve got a lot of coaches here, and they’re taking something from it,” he said. “It’s going to be great for us.”
He even called Bob Chesney’s opening presentation “inspiring” and “touching” because energy is one thing. Authenticity is another and it’s the coaches who usually spot the difference faster than anyone else. And UCLA is offering both. The interesting part is that this strategy ties directly into the Bruins’ on-field reality.
Bob Chesney has a big challenge at UCLA in year one
UCLA has big gaps to fix. In the recent 2026 NFL Draft, no players were drafted but they still lost key contributors. Now, they have to make replacements across multiple positions starting with the run game. Jalen Berger is out this offseason after putting up 364 yards at 4.5 per carry. The Bruins responded with a portal solution by bringing Wayne Knight and Dylan Lee who join returning RBs Jaivian Thomas and Anthony Woods. Given Bob Chesney’s history at James Madison, where the run game was an identity, UCLA could lean heavily into it.
Then there’s the offensive line. Garrett DiGiorgio signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars as a UDFA. He had been a consistent contributor for UCLA since 2022 with 48 starts. The Bruins added replacements but there’s still questions about if they can act as a solid wall for QB Nico Iamaleava whom Bob Chesney convinced to stay. On defense, Rodrick Pleasant’s departure leaves a gap in the secondary. Even beyond him, the CB room lacks a proven lockdown presence.
And that’s where Bob Chesney’s relationship-first approach comes back into focus. If UCLA wants to compete at the level the Big Ten demands, it needs elite players. And they often come through trusted pipelines which means those 180 coaches on the sideline are potential entry points. As of now, they might feel like a program in transition but they have direction with their new head coach trying to out-connect everyone.
