Dave Roberts Believes Bob Chesney Can Reignite UCLA Football: “He’s Gonna Win”
Dave Roberts knows what winning looks like. The Dodgers manager has steered one of baseball’s most consistent franchises for nearly a decade, and he’s no stranger to pressure, expectation, or the grind it takes to build a winning culture. So when Roberts, a proud UCLA alumnus, speaks with conviction about the Bruins' new head football coach, Bob Chesney, it’s worth paying attention.
Roberts has watched from the sidelines as UCLA football has struggled to find its footing over the years. Since he took the reins in L.A., the Bruins have cycled through five head coaches (including interims), with results ranging from inconsistent to outright disappointing. But with Chesney now in charge, Roberts sees something different-something promising.
“I just see him as a guy that failure’s not an option,” Roberts said of Chesney, who inked a five-year, $33.75 million deal to take over the Bruins. “He’s gonna win. I think I have a pretty good gut and read on people and I couldn’t have more conviction in coach Chesney.”
That’s a strong endorsement, and it’s grounded in more than just school pride. Roberts didn’t just rubber-stamp the hire-he engaged with Chesney during the process, pushing him on the real challenges facing the program.
UCLA’s football team has struggled not just on the field, but in connecting with its fan base. Attendance has sagged, alumni engagement has waned, and the energy around the program hasn’t matched the school’s rich athletic tradition.
Roberts made sure Chesney understood that.
“I also challenged him on, ‘Does he have the bandwidth to not only recruit to get his players to perform at a high level but also reintroduce the student body and the alumni back into and get us all excited about UCLA football?’” Roberts said.
“And he didn’t bat an eye. … He was really adamant that he has enough energy and motivation to do that and understands the value of all of that together.”
That kind of buy-in matters. Because turning around UCLA football isn’t just about Xs and Os-it’s about rebuilding belief, inside and outside the locker room.
Chesney arrives in Westwood fresh off a remarkable run at James Madison University. In just two seasons, he led JMU to its first-ever bowl win and a College Football Playoff appearance-an unprecedented leap for a program that had already been solid but had never broken through on the national stage like that. His 12-1 season in 2025 turned heads across the country, and it’s easy to see why UCLA saw him as the man to lead the next chapter.
But the mountain is steep. UCLA hasn’t sniffed the College Football Playoff since its inception in 2014.
The program’s last appearance in a New Year’s Six bowl came all the way back in 1999, when the Bruins fell to Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. Their last major bowl win?
That was in the 1998 Cotton Bowl against Texas A&M. In the past decade, they’ve only finished ranked in the AP Top 25 once-No. 21 in 2022.
That’s the context Chesney steps into. And that’s the challenge Roberts laid out plainly.
But if you ask Roberts, there’s real reason to believe. He sees in Chesney a coach who doesn’t flinch, who embraces the grind, and who understands that rebuilding a program isn’t just about game plans-it’s about culture, connection, and conviction.
“He’s gonna win,” Roberts repeated. And coming from someone who’s built a winning culture in one of the toughest markets in sports, that’s not just a soundbite-it’s a statement.