UCLA HC Bob Chesney Talks Bruins’ Football Recruiting & More with Rich Eisen | Full Interview

0:00 We're pleased to have kickoff hour number two,

0:02 a man who has got a lot of people in this town very excited as he has taken

0:07 over the UCLA football program after uh several successful

0:11 years at James Madison and then Holy Cross before that.

0:15 Ladies and gentlemen, Bob Chzn is here in studio.

0:17 Good to see you, coach.

0:18 How are you?

0:19 I'm doing great.

0:19 Thanks for having me.

0:20 Wonderful setup you got.

0:22 I appreciate you saying phenomenal people.

0:23 Unbelievable.

0:24 I appreciate you saying that.

0:25 Uh if you don't mind me saying,

0:26 it looks like you already have a Southern California tan.

0:29 I you tan easily from being the east coast.

0:32 I do that.

0:33 I mean and I'm I'm not I I want to wear a hat.

0:36 I just can't really do it.

0:37 And uh I wouldn't wear a hat.

0:39 Put your hair on.

0:40 You got two bald guys right here.

0:41 We don't do that.

0:43 Let Let it fly, man.

0:44 The sunscreen.

0:44 I just miss on it almost every single day.

0:46 I'm h halfway through practice and I'm like,

0:48 man, I put nothing on my face again.

0:50 Be careful.

0:50 Be careful.

0:51 Be careful moving out here to Southern California.

0:53 It'll get you dangerous because it's every day, man.

0:55 No doubt.

0:55 It's almost every day.

0:56 Thank goodness.

0:57 That's the weather we we live in right here.

0:59 Um, so how has it been like what how about this?

1:03 What does one do when one takes over a program like UCLA?

1:06 What do you what was your orders of business?

1:08 Yeah.

1:08 Well, I think you got to also go back to when

1:10 did you take over UCLA and that was in the middle

1:13 of us about to go into our Sunb Belt Championship

1:16 game at JMU and then we still had the the playoffs,

1:19 hopeful playoffs coming up, right?

1:21 Uh, which we were able to to make.

1:23 So, you know, that all started.

1:25 It all broke on a Sunday night and it was about, you know,

1:28 we were going to play that that that championship game,

1:31 host it for the first time at home, and you just knew there was a lot of work

1:34 that had to go into that game the next game,

1:37 but also you had to start into UCLA as well.

1:40 So, there was the ability to start building a staff

1:43 and and I just I said it the other day,

1:45 but it was interesting because you're three hours, you know,

1:47 behind out here, you know, 3 hours ahead there.

1:50 So, it was it worked out okay.

1:52 you'd get to the end of the day 10 11:00 at night

1:54 and you'd look back and it'd be 7 or 8 over here.

1:57 So you had a couple more hours that you

1:58 could afford yourself which uh wouldn't happen any other way.

2:02 So that kind of worked out.

2:03 So you know one of the first things was getting

2:05 a GM in place building out the recruiting department and then

2:08 you know I already had the roster broken down

2:10 and an idea of the players and what we needed etc.

2:13 who was in the portal you know who who was about

2:15 to go in the portal all those things were pretty well known.

2:18 Uh so we start there with the people and then

2:20 after that it was a matter of getting out here.

2:22 Transfer portal opened up the same day that school started.

2:25 So you had to again bring in a whole bunch of guys as you were still looking

2:28 at the team in place wondering what their position

2:30 is on on you know within the the program

2:33 and you're just trying to peck away at it

2:35 every single day and just give everything you

2:36 got to to try to build this roster because you only got one shot at doing that.

2:40 Yeah, sure.

2:40 And you know, uh, listen,

2:41 I don't know if you pay attention to this sort of stuff,

2:43 but we certainly in the media do.

2:45 Two, uh, an organization called 247 247 sports has

2:49 you with the fourth best recruiting class right now.

2:51 So, obviously, you've checked a few boxes here.

2:55 Yeah.

2:55 Um, what do what do you sell?

2:56 Like, what's your sale?

2:58 Nothing.

2:58 I we I and I specifically say to our coach, we're not selling anything.

3:01 We're presenting things, right?

3:03 And we're presenting what we have here at UCLA.

3:05 And I think when you go through it, and I again I talk about this a lot,

3:08 but it's the number one public school in the country, right?

3:11 Then you add in the fact of our location,

3:13 then you add in the fact that you have,

3:15 you know, three national champions this year,

3:18 maybe another one or two coming up in your athletic department,

3:21 first round draft picks,

3:22 Olympic athletes, you know, and that's not even talking about the campus yet.

3:25 You get into campus and the future CEOs and the, you know,

3:28 the doctors, the lawyers, the engineers, just all those people.

3:31 It's a 8% acceptance rate, I think, right now,

3:34 which means out of 100 people applying, 92 don't get in, you know.

3:37 So, you're really surrounded by greatness.

3:39 And I think that's important for our guys to understand is that it's it's

3:42 our time now as football to make sure we put this program back on the map.

3:46 Everybody else is winning.

3:47 Everybody else is winning at a high level in the classroom,

3:49 out on the sports fields,

3:51 in the, you know, arenas as Corey and and and her basketball team like it.

3:56 Everybody, you have a chance to, you know,

3:58 breathe some rare air based on the people that you're surrounded with at UCLA.

4:02 And I think that's what we're presenting.

4:03 And we're just figuring out who understands that.

4:05 They come and watch a practice and understand how we're going to do

4:07 things and figure out if they want to be part of that.

4:09 Well, if they watch the spring game,

4:10 they saw Cory Close, who you just referred to.

4:12 You brought out the world the world champion, national champion,

4:15 head coach of of UCLA basketball um out there.

4:19 She called some plays.

4:20 Like, so you've already gotten to know her and integrate

4:23 yourself into the athletic department in that way.

4:25 Yeah, we've done it.

4:26 I mean, it she was probably one of the first ones to reach

4:28 out to me when I got here and I thought that was really cool

4:30 because she was on the brink of doing some pretty special things at that moment

4:34 and took time to reach out to me and and uh you know,

4:37 we went back and forth on text a whole bunch.

4:39 I'd share some quotes or videos with her that we were

4:41 sharing with our team and she'd do the same with you know,

4:43 what she's doing with her team and uh just try

4:46 to be there and support them as much as we possibly can.

4:49 So then she came out and it was her and Adam Wright who's

4:52 I think whether he played or coached 12 time national champion in water polo.

4:57 So he was out there going against uh coach Close and he

4:59 ended up coming out with a win and in the end

5:01 of it but we gave them a a play call

5:03 sheet kind of like a Madden thing with the pass plays, the run plays, you know,

5:07 trick plays and they actually put in their own trick plays.

5:10 Cory had two of her own.

5:12 Oh, really?

5:11 What did she What did she dial up?

5:13 She dialed up a little flea flicker.

5:15 Uh, and then she had a Well, Adam Wright had a reverse out of an eye formation.

5:20 Well, then

5:21 Yes, exactly.

5:21 So, then that ended up working out with a throwback to the quarterback.

5:24 So, it was uh they they did some research.

5:27 They were excited about it and they went in there and had a great

5:29 time and it was great to have two of that caliber coaches, you know,

5:33 with our guys and our guys embraced them like they were their own coaches and I

5:35 thought it was a pretty cool moment for for both of them and for our program.

5:39 Yeah, we're big fans of Cory's here on the show here.

5:41 um and also women's sports now which is produced um out of here

5:45 and she's awesome to have her around a team and you know and have her

5:51 sort of um represent UCLA to your your new team here even

5:57 though she's clearly well known uh to the players who are coming back.

6:02 Um it's it's a great example.

6:04 It's without a doubt.

6:05 Yeah, it's phenomenal.

6:06 You watch their their team and just the the real

6:09 true joy they have to play that game.

6:10 Yes, they're inspirational when you watch them and I watched them come out

6:13 of the locker room into that national

6:15 championship game and there was no pressure.

6:17 They weren't feeling any weight on their shoulders.

6:19 They were very prepared and connected and I thought it was pretty,

6:23 you know, awesome to watch how they started that game.

6:25 It got really physical right before half

6:27 and they just continued to battle and they end up being the more physical team

6:30 and walked away with a national championship.

6:32 Welldeserved.

6:32 Bob Chzn, the new head coach of UCLA football here on the Rich Eisen Show.

6:38 um going from James Madison to the Big 10.

6:41 We've seen that before.

6:42 Um the man who you replaced at James Madison did that at Indiana.

6:46 Do you have any relationship with Kurt Signetti?

6:47 Not really.

6:48 I I mean we we were at we shared

6:50 a moment down in Houston at uh the Bear Bryan Awards.

6:53 So he and I hung out for a little bit there.

6:55 He was swamped by a lot of people though,

6:58 you know, just coming off the national championship.

7:00 So uh but we had not really communicated a whole lot before that.

7:03 our our our paths from division 2 to FCS to FBS are similar.

7:08 He had opportunities, you know, at Alabama and and higher levels.

7:11 I never did in my career.

7:13 Um so I think that, you know,

7:15 we actually missed him by one year when I was at a division 2 school.

7:18 We were playing IUP where he was the coach, but he had just left.

7:21 I think this was in the Elite 8.

7:23 Uh we ended up playing them and lost to them by five at the end of the game,

7:27 but he had just walked away from that program.

7:28 That would have been a chance to cross over with them.

7:30 Hadn't had that opportunity.

7:31 Well, I'm just wondering who whose brain do you pick?

7:34 Like who's who's in the Bob Chznney circle

7:37 that that you could reach out to to say, "All right, Big 10's clearly

7:41 um a bit of a different ball of wax." I mean,

7:43 it is still just like the movie Hoosiers.

7:45 I mean, the football field is the same size, you know,

7:47 but it's just it's it's a different

7:50 a different world to which you're entering.

7:52 Yeah, definitely.

7:53 And I think for me, you know, even when I was at D3,

7:56 I spent a lot of time trying to be around like we were in New

7:59 England around the Ivy League programs and how

8:01 many how much can I learn from them.

8:02 Then I got to D2.

8:04 And Brian Kelly, who was at Notre Dame at the time,

8:06 was an alum of the D2 school that I was at.

8:08 So I went out there and spent, you know, three, four days,

8:12 you know, for three or four years in a row out there with him.

8:14 learned a lot about the sports science, you know,

8:16 that behind the way they practice, the GPS,

8:19 you know, player loads and intensities and all these things

8:21 that come with the way you practice and play,

8:23 nutrition, you know, they were doing things, you know,

8:26 the blood work on their players and just all the different

8:28 things that were like these next level thoughts for me that were,

8:31 you know, pretty cool.

8:32 So, I got to learn a lot from him.

8:34 And then I had a chance to when I was at New England, uh,

8:36 or up in, you know, Holy Cross,

8:38 our women's lacrosse coach happened to be Amanda Bichc.

8:41 though I had a chance to spend a lot of time with, you know,

8:44 coach Bichc over the Patriots and I thought that was really informative on how

8:48 to run meetings and defensive scheme and offensive

8:50 scheme and just the way they practice,

8:52 the way they did things.

8:53 That was very helpful for me.

8:54 And then, you know, I've just spent a lot of time studying and learning

8:57 and being connected to a lot of other people leadership wise with, you know,

9:00 different, you know, ex-Navy Seals, whatever it might be.

9:03 And then I grew up in a little

9:04 tiny coal mining town in Pennsylvania and Brett V,

9:07 who's the GM of the Chiefs, you know, is from that same town.

9:10 So, you know, there's a lot of people that I have a chance to reach

9:12 out to at at higher levels to just figure out how it all works.

9:16 And then just know that I always want to be a lifelong learner.

9:18 I don't want to be at a point where I feel like I

9:20 know everything because I just don't think that ends up working out really well.

9:22 So, I want to learn new things every single day.

9:24 And I rely on a lot of those people to help.

9:26 So, if I asked you what you bring to the equation

9:29 and how you would tell UCLA fans what you're going to do,

9:33 would you say to Google you?

9:36 No, I would not.

9:36 That's so you got a different You have a different approach.

9:38 Yeah.

9:38 No, but I think that's awesome.

9:40 I think it's that's that's one of one and what

9:42 a what a that's just a big time move, man.

9:45 I did Google you.

9:46 Um anybody who does can see that you have one

9:49 where you've been.

9:50 And so what is your philosophy?

9:51 What can you tell Bruins fans what your philosophy is and how it will work?

9:57 Yeah.

9:56 You know, amongst Oregon up north

9:59 and obviously the Ohio State and the institution

10:03 that they refer to as the school up north, which is mine in Michigan.

10:06 How how how what would you tell UCLA fans about that?

10:10 Yeah, I mean that we're in uncharted territories right now.

10:13 You know, I think for us to be in this situation where we have

10:16 a a good recruiting class that we're putting

10:18 together right now speaks volumes of, you know, the the desire to be at UCLA.

10:22 It's also the number one applied to school in the country, you know.

10:25 So, I think there's a lot that goes into that.

10:26 And I think for us, you know, just embracing that idea that we can be the best.

10:30 Embracing the idea that to be fourth in recruiting, you know,

10:34 why not be third or second or find a way to be first?

10:36 Why not do those things?

10:37 That takes a lot, you know, and there's a lot of, you know,

10:40 commitment that needs to come from our alumni.

10:41 But I think now is the perfect time for it.

10:43 And I think they're ready for that.

10:45 So, you know, what does it all look like in the end

10:47 is that we got to make sure we put the best

10:48 players on the field that we possibly can and that we

10:50 hold them to extremely high standards and we coach them really,

10:53 really hard every single day.

10:55 And we got to make sure we get, you know,

10:56 back to playing a a disciplined, physical brand of football, period.

10:59 And I think that's what all those best teams do.

11:01 They have elite athletes, you know, high level coaches,

11:03 and they just demand the most out of each other,

11:05 and they hold each other to those standards every single day.

11:07 And that's what we got to be able to do.

11:09 So, uh, few minutes left here with Bob Chzn, UCLA, uh,

11:12 head coach uh, for the football program right here on the Rich Eisen Show.

11:16 You're from James Madison.

11:17 That's where they you were hired from.

11:19 James Madison made the college football playoffs.

11:21 and the conversation about how to improve the playoffs

11:24 and how to improve what's going on uh in college football.

11:27 The AFCA, the American Football Coaches Association,

11:30 just came out with some ideas that I'm going to bounce off you in a second.

11:33 Yeah.

11:33 But first things first,

11:34 what do you say to people who think that James

11:36 Madison's of the world don't belong in the college football playoffs?

11:40 What do you think about that?

11:41 I I I think if we had a little bit of a better showing,

11:43 you know, we could have said something a little bit differently.

11:45 And I think, you know, it took us a half to figure out that speed

11:48 and that that knows just the size and the things that came with it.

11:52 But it happens.

11:52 It happens in basketball all the time.

11:54 You watch, you know, those low seeds beat a high seed.

11:57 It's going to happen at some point in football as well.

11:59 You think so?

11:59 I do.

12:00 I really think we're going to have some sort of Cinderella glass slipper.

12:03 16 beats a one.

12:04 It'll be a 12 beats a one.

12:05 Or it could even be 16.

12:07 Well, or I guess would it be what a a 12 would beat a five, right?

12:11 or or 16 beats a a nine depending

12:14 on the expansion or what have you that might come.

12:16 You think that would happen?

12:17 I think it can happen.

12:18 I think that you look at the the you know the grouping of players

12:21 that have come from those that lower level you know the group of five

12:25 and and you know you watch them go on to the next level as they

12:28 get recruited up to that level and they do and perform at a high level.

12:32 I think there's a team out there or there will be a team

12:34 out there that has enough caliber players to be able to, you know,

12:37 give someone a shot and and possibly pull off a win.

12:39 Not saying they can go two, three, four rounds deep,

12:42 but I I do think that is possible.

12:43 Well, I mean, and again, that's that's a u above many paygrades about

12:48 whether these teams are allowed in or not,

12:51 and there's lawsuits and things of that nature that that I'm

12:54 sure commissioners of conferences are are keenly aware of.

12:58 But I I do love the AFCA um ideas, you know,

13:04 especially getting rid of conference championship games,

13:06 moving things up, keeping things going six days between games.

13:11 Do you like it, too?

13:11 I do like it.

13:12 I do like all those things.

13:13 And I I know, you know, in the Sunb Belt,

13:16 we had to play in that championship game, right?

13:18 There was a year in in my D3 life where

13:21 we played in that championship game and it actually knocked

13:23 us out of the playoffs and another team that was

13:25 lower went into the playoffs because we took another loss.

13:28 and that's how they viewed the the the losses.

13:30 They didn't want to see too many losses on that schedule.

13:32 So, I think that and then you're playing the most physical,

13:35 toughest game and then you're walking that that team

13:38 from that conference out onto the field

13:39 into the playoffs at that point in time after they just beat up each other,

13:43 you know, and I think that's one thing to me that there's teams

13:45 that don't do that, have a buy and then walk into the playoffs.

13:48 That's a huge advantage and I do think that that makes a lot of sense.

13:51 Yeah.

13:51 And then and then six days between games, you you like something like that.

13:55 Yeah.

13:55 I I I mean the I've played

13:58 on the shorter weeks before where we've we've you know

14:01 I guess it's no fewer than six day I mean

14:03 no no right no fewer than six days between games.

14:07 I I just kind of like the idea of of a but again this is I'm I'm an NFL guy.

14:13 Yeah.

14:13 And you you know you're not coaching in the NFL.

14:15 This is a this is still college football and you're still dealing with student

14:18 athletes and I understand that uh they're getting paid now uh in certain ways.

14:23 I do like the the pace of one a week or one every like you know Yeah.

14:29 eight days, nine day, like the max like the fact that Indiana went almost a full

14:34 month in between playing against Ohio State for the Big 10 title.

14:37 Yes.

14:37 Which Oregon didn't have to but still made it anyway.

14:39 Yes.

14:39 And then and then they played in the Rose Bowl.

14:41 Yeah.

14:41 The gap.

14:42 It's What are we doing, right?

14:44 I agree.

14:44 I agree.

14:45 Okay.

14:45 Yep.

14:45 I agree.

14:46 Yes.

14:47 Okay.

14:47 So, that's all I wanted.

14:48 Thanks for coming on.

14:48 No, I'm just kidding.

14:49 No, I I I I like it.

14:51 Um, and so that's something you think that was it a I

14:56 don't know if you knew about the the final vote here,

14:58 but you think all coaches feel this way or I would think so.

15:00 Yeah, I would think so.

15:01 I think that, you know,

15:02 to keep the momentum rolling and to find yourself in a spot not

15:04 in that championship game and then to find

15:06 yourself being able to, like you said, not have a month between games, you know,

15:10 I think that's an important important thing.

15:12 But now, how does that work with the academic schedule,

15:14 finals, all those things?

15:15 It's changes things a little bit.

15:17 Everybody's on different schedules, too.

15:18 Not everybody runs a semester program.

15:20 Some are on quarters.

15:21 There's a lot of things that got to be factored into there and I

15:24 think everybody's just going to have to figure out within their own institution.

15:26 Right.

15:26 Okay.

15:27 So now, um, what what's what's your next order business?

15:30 What do we got?

15:31 What's Well, right now our coaches are on the road.

15:33 So, we're out there trying to, you know,

15:35 hopefully complete this class in the very near future.

15:37 Official visits are coming up in over the next couple weeks.

15:40 And then we're on the 2028s, you know, partially already when we're on the road.

15:43 So, it's all just kind of just never stops.

15:45 The spring game was on Saturday and we're just rolling right now.

15:48 Okay.

15:49 who who who uh drop a name.

15:51 I know you're not a name dropper,

15:53 but that from the UCLA world fan base, alumni base reached out to you.

15:58 We're like, "Oh, that's pretty cool."

16:00 Well, I think Troy Aman's obviously big one did I saw

16:04 some of some of uh some of his photos on his Instagram.

16:07 Yeah.

16:07 So, he came back.

16:08 They do a cool thing where all the quarterbacks from the past

16:11 come back together and they just had a banquet the other day,

16:13 raise money for the children's hospital.

16:15 Uh that's what I saw on his Instagram.

16:17 Phenomenal.

16:17 And it was great to hear them get up and speak and hear their stories

16:20 and just know that they were the probably

16:22 the leaders of every one of those teams,

16:24 you know, and to have all of them in in one room with just historic runs,

16:28 Kate Mcnown and Troy Aman and and go through Gary Bon's in there.

16:31 You just go through the different people that have,

16:33 you know, just led these programs, the the history and the, you know,

16:37 excellence that was UCLA football and will be once again.

16:40 I think that's all things that are, I think,

16:42 pretty pretty neat for us to be in a room with them.

16:44 But he was impressive.

16:45 The most, you know, just an impressive guy.

16:46 He's Troy Eggman.

16:47 Troy Eggman.

16:48 Troy Eggman.

16:49 And MJD's kid is coming your way, right?

16:51 Sure is.

16:52 Yep, he is.

16:53 All right.

16:53 So, he was at the spring game, was down on Friday, visited with us,

16:56 and then ended up going to the spring game,

16:58 and uh it all worked out in a really positive way.

17:00 I'm really happy for their family, really happy for, you know,

17:04 the just everybody in general to just get a chance to see

17:07 a very familiar name out there on the field doing his thing.

17:09 That's great.

17:10 Yeah.

17:10 Well, congrats on all everything that's gone on for you right now.

17:13 And u you know I guess welcome to Southern California even

17:17 though you've been here for a few months but um you know

17:19 we're we're here so let let us know whatever you know

17:23 we can be part of your program and just have you on.

17:25 Yeah anytime.

17:26 Anytime.

17:26 I'd love to be back if you ever want to come out watch a practice or be around.

17:29 You guys are always you know more than welcome.

17:32 I appreciate you saying that.

17:33 That's Bob Chzn the new head coach of UCLA football.

17:37 Did you clap eight times?

17:39 Exactly.

17:39 Is that an eight?

17:39 Was that was that eight?

17:40 Was that an eight clap right there, Mike?

17:41 Of course.

17:43 Just want to make sure, right?

17:44 Got to make sure we're out.

17:46 Okay.

17:46 Bob Chzn here on the Rich Eisen Show.

17:48 Hey, you made it all the way to the end.

17:50 Thanks for that.

17:51 Check us out every single day streaming live on Disney

17:54 Plus and the ESPN app 12 to 3 Eastern.