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After a successful regular season, Bob Chesney is ready to lead the James Madison University football team to its first ever College Football Playoff appearance.
No. 12 Dukes visits No. 7 Oregon on Saturday, December 20, in a first-round game, with a chance to earn a spot in the quarterfinal round of the 12-team bracket.
Chesney has been at the helm of JMU since 2023, but it was announced on December 6 that Chesney will be coaching at UCLA next season.
Despite the move, he will finish this year alongside the Dukes, leading JMU to the postseason.
“I would like to thank you Martin JarmondCouncillor Julio Frenk and the search committee for this incredible opportunity to lead the UCLA Football program,” Chesney said in a statement. “Through our many conversations, it is very clear to me that UCLA is committed to doing what it takes to build a championship-caliber program. UCLA is a very special place. From its outstanding academics, impactful alumni, geographic location and deep recruiting base, this is a program that can and WILL win at the highest level.”
Keep scrolling to learn more about Chesney:
He led JMU to the Sun Belt Conference Championship
This season was JMU’s first – the second season with Chesney on the sidelines.
Bob Chesney, head coach of the James Madison Dukes
Getty ImagesThe Dukes finished the regular season with a 12-1 record, 8-0 in conference play, capturing the program’s first Sun Belt Conference Championship. The win, in addition to the conference championship, earned JMU a spot in the College Football Playoff bracket and a chance to compete in the national tournament.
Chesney received the 2025 Sun Belt Coach of the Year award, and was named one of 24 semifinalists for the 2025 George Munger College Coach of the Year Award.
He spent six successful seasons with Holy Cross before JMU
Prior to his time at JMU, Chesney brought success to the Holy Cross football program.
He spent six seasons as the team’s head coach (2018-2023) and won consecutive Patriot League championships, a program record.
Three times, he was selected as the Patriots League Coach of the Year (2019, 2021, 2022).
He finished his time at Holy Cross with a 44-21 record, including three years from 2021-2023 where the team went 29-8. (That’s the program’s best three-year tenure in 30 years).
He began his coaching career in Division II and Division III
Before continuing his success in Division I football, Chesney made a name for himself by reaching new heights at both the Division II and Division III levels.
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He began his head coaching career in 2012 at Division III Salve Regina, where he took over a program that was in the midst of eight consecutive losing seasons and quickly pushed the team to a winning record. In his three years there, his teams went 23-9.
In 2013, he began coaching at Division II Assumption College, leading the program in winning seasons in each of his five years there, including NCAA Division II appearances in his last three games.
He left Holy Cross in 2018.
He married his wife in 2007 and has three children
Chesney is married to his longtime wife, Andreasince 2007. The two have three children: daughters Lyla again Hudsonand a son, Bo.
