Seriously, how do you not see if you can make lightning strike twice?
Curt Cignetti pulled off the greatest turnaround job in the history of college football, and maybe American sports.
Coach “Google Me” won everywhere he coached, did wonderful things at James Madison, left for Indiana, brought a slew of the best players with him to build on an already great base, and … boom.
New UCLA head coach Bob Chesney wins, too.
UCLA Is Betting Big on the James Madison Blueprint
© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
(© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)
He won at Salve Regina – it’s a gorgeous little school in Rhode Island. He won at Assumption – another beautiful private Catholic school, but in Massachusetts.
He won big at Holy Cross, took James Madison to the College Football Playoff in his second season with the Dukes, and in his 16 years as a head coach has just one losing season – 5-6 in his first year at Holy Cross.
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UCLA had nine losing seasons in the last 16 years, and it’s coming off one of the worst campaigns in the program’s history.
And, like Cignetti did, Chesney is bringing in a slew of good players from James Madison. Productive veterans who know how to win, coming into a place that went 8-16 in its first two seasons in the Big Ten.
No, there will never be another Cignetti, or another Indiana. But woe to all those who passed on Chesney if he comes close.
UCLA Quick Hits
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Head Coach: Bob Chesney (1st year; 17th year overall: 132-52)
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Best Case / Worst Case: Get to a bowl game/A third straight losing season
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Key Player: Wayne Knight, RB Sr.
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Biggest Question: Can all of the transfers make UCLA crisper, stronger, and better right away?
UCLA Key 2025 Stats
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First Quarter Scoring: Opponents 88, UCLA 20
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Sacks: Opponents 27 for 159 yards, UCLA 10 for 79 yards
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Rushing Touchdowns: Opponents 26, UCLA 8
Offense
Minnesota and Wisconsin had worse offenses than UCLA – that’s putting a nice spin on the problems of last year.
Bad rushing attack, worse passing offense, no scoring. UCLA managed more than 21 points just three times, and came up with more than 14 points in five games.
In all, the 218 points scored were the fewest since the 212 the 2008 Bruin team put up.
Things are about to change in a big way.
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What’s Working
Here comes the help to make the O go. Offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy made the move to UCLA after spending the last two years under Chesney at James Madison. His attack finished 15th in the nation in yards, ninth in scoring, and he’s not alone.
The James Madison talents coming over are about to help in a big way. Start with running back Wayne Knight, a tremendous back who ran for close to 1,400 yards and nine touchdowns, and caught 40 passes. He’s the back the offense desperately needed last year.
All-Sun Belt blockers Riley Robell at center and guard Carter Sweazie, All-Sun Belt wide receiver Landon Ellis, tight end Josh Phifer – the new guys coming from Harrisonburg to Los Angeles are ready to work.
The Bruins kept their quarterback. For all of the dogging of Nico Iamaleava for leaving Tennessee for UCLA, he did what he could for an offense that didn’t have much else to work with.
Now he has the supporting cast to turn it loose and show off all he can do.
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What Needs Work
The receiving corps is a bit of a question mark. Last year’s bunch didn’t do much, but it still hurts to lose leading target Kwazi Gilmer, and in all four of the top five non-running back pass catchers.
It’s all on the transfers to fix the problems.
Will the downfield passing game be there? UCLA is going from getting nothing whatsoever down the field to needing to force the big plays.
The hope is for all the new guys to stretch the field more, and the James Madison air attack cranked up the deep shots, but after completing fewer than ten yards per completion, this isn’t a given.
Get that ground game going. To do that, the offensive line needs the four starting transfers to be great right away, and the rest of the big transfers have to bring the depth the line didn’t have last year.
The Bruins were 3-0 when running for more than 175 yards, and 0-9 when coming up with fewer. James Madison averaged 241.5 rushing yards per game.
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Player to Watch
Wayne Knight, RB Sr.
Iamaleava is the star of the UCLA show, but the entire offense should be different with all the things Knight can do.
He’s only 5-7 and 193 pounds, but he makes the most of his chances as a runner, receiver, and return man.
There will be a running back rotation – the Bruins have other backs – but Knight changes the Bruins.
© Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images
(© Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images)
Defense
It worked at James Madison, so why not keep it all rolling?
Former Dukes defensive coordinator Colin Hitschler takes over the same role with the Bruins.
His JMU defense finished fifth in the nation in total defense, was 13th in scoring defense, and was a rock against the run, finishing fifth, allowing just 85 yards per game.
It’ll be a heavy lift, but all of the new transfers will make a night-and-day difference.
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What’s Working
The defensive line just got a desperately needed overhaul. After finishing dead last in the nation with just ten sacks, in comes the James Madison end combination of Sahir West and Aiden Gobaria.
Those two combined for 12 sacks, and Cal transfer Ryan McCulloch is a nice option for the rotation.
The linebacking got an upgrade. The combination of JonJon Vaughns and Isaiah Chisom made plenty of tackles, but not enough.
In steps Sammy Omosigho from Oklahoma, a 6-2, 239-pound veteran potential tackling machine who will also get into the backfield.
Jalen Woods is a holdover who should be fine, and James Madison’s Drew Sinogatti needs a spot somewhere after being a dangerous pass rusher along with 51 tackles last year.
The Bruins are loaded with experienced players in the secondary. Last year’s bunch didn’t get any help from the pass rush, and that’s about to change.
DJ Barksdale was a versatile All-Sun Belt playmaker for James Madison. Bruin holdovers Roderick Pleasant and Scooter Jackson weren’t bad at corner.
Safety Cole Martin made 65 tackles with three broken up passes. Throw in Tao Johnson into the starting mix – he made 50 tackles with two picks last year at Utah – and the secondary should be steadier.
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What Needs Work
The pass rush has to prove itself all over again. Not to freak out over the past, but the pass rush was so abysmal last year that it’ll look strange when someone in a fabulous blue uniform is behind the line of scrimmage.
How bad was it? UCLA went all of October and most of November, making just four sacks in seven games.
The defensive tackle situation is the known unknown. The defense should be better in all phases, but tackle is the one area without any real experience.
There are nice prospects – Ohio State’s Maxwell Roy is all upside, and Cal’s Tyson Ford has seen limited action – but holdover AJ Fuimaono is one of the few tackles with something on the resume, making 14 tackles last season.
Third down stops. It shouldn’t be a surprise that the defense with the worst pass rush in the nation was also dead last in stopping teams on third downs, and by a relative mile.
Air Force was the only other team to allow offenses to convert over 50% of their chances – 50.36% on the year. UCLA allowed teams to keep things moving 54.8% of the time.
That wasn’t just the worst in college football last year, but it was the worst since ULM allowed teams to convert 57% of their third down tries in 2020.
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Player to Watch
Sahir West, EDGE Soph.
Here’s your star pass rusher to work the UCLA defensive front around.
The 6-3, 297-pounder didn’t do anything as a freshman at James Madison, but turned into a force last season with 45 tackles, seven sacks, and 14 tackles for loss.
© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
(© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)
Keys to the Season
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Find consistent offensive explosion with all the new parts.
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Start generating pressure in the backfield to take the pressure off everywhere else.
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Score – the Bruins only put up more than 23 points in two games last season.
Player Who Needs To Shine
Maxwell Roy, DT RFr.
UCLA desperately needs a top tackle to work around.
The 6-3, 320-pounder was a good recruit for Ohio State, redshirted last year, and then made the move to Westwood to be a potential anchor for the next three seasons. The bulk, size, and talent are all there, but the experience isn’t.
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Biggest Concern
Make all of the new parts mesh right away.
There’s talent now, and this is a much better team than last year’s version, but there’s a good chance at least 15 transfers will start when the season opens up against …
Biggest Game
at Cal, September 5
It’s a huge moment for the start of the Bob Chesney era.
No one’s expecting miracles, and it’ll be a fight just to get bowl eligible considering the Big Ten schedule, but winning in Berkeley against a jacked up Cal – who’s starting out its own new coaching staff era – would instantly show that UCLA is poised to be a problem.
Transfer Portal
It’s all about the transfers.
Chesney and his staff didn’t bring over as many James Madison players as Curt Cignetti did at Indiana – around ten are coming to Los Angeles, at last count.
But the transfer portal was kind to a Bruin program that needs players and depth just about everywhere.
There weren’t any big losses who can’t be replaced.
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Best Signing
Leland Smith, WR (San Jose State)
It’s actually edge rusher Sahir West, but check out the defensive section to learn all about the former James Madison star.
Smith was a wonderful get for a passing game that needs to stretch the field.
He got in a little work in one year at Purdue, and then last season he made 43 catches for 688 yards – averaging 16 yards per grab – with three scores at San Jose State. He’ll be on the outside of the Bruin offense.
Biggest Loss
Andre Jordan, CB (Auburn)
Again, the Bruins didn’t lose anyone who’s totally irreplaceable, but Jordan led the team with ten broken up passes and made 19 tackles as one of the main corners over the second half of the season.
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Other Names to Know
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Josh Phifer, TE (James Madison)
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Brian Rowe Jr., WR (South Carolina)
CFN Season Prediction
Let’s get a bit bullish here.
UCLA doesn’t have the hardest of Big Ten schedules, and it’ll be at least three wins better to get to a bowl game.
1) Chesney and his staff should be that good, 2) the talent across the board is better, and 3) the team won’t be totally woeful in so many areas like last year.
And don’t discount the possibility that something clicks right away, Iamaleava shows that he’s a special quarterback, and UCLA is a major surprise with a far better season than we’re predicting here.
CFN Prediction: 6-6
At Cal, San Diego State, Purdue, at Maryland, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Nevada, Illinois, at Minnesota – that’s not totally awful.
If UCLA is any good, it should be able to win at least five of those nine games, if not more.
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There’s no Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Iowa, or Washington. USC, at Michigan, and at Oregon are the true lean loss games, and …
No, we’re not getting Curt Cignetti Lite and another Indiana here, but UCLA will take a big step toward being a good college football team.
Related: Big Ten Football Win Totals 2026: Spring Predictions for All 18 Teams
