James Madison football coach Bob Chesney met virtually with regional media from 11:30-noon Monday to discuss his team’s Sun Belt Conference championship game Friday against Troy. He then transitioned to his weekly, on-site gabfest with local reporters in Harrisonburg, a session that lasted about 23 minutes.
At 12:24 p.m., just as Chesney was finishing but before everyone’s phones began buzzing with the news, On3’s Pete Nakos and ESPN’s Pete Thamel tweeted simultaneously that Chesney has agreed to become UCLA’s next coach.
Yet in both sessions Chesney faced general questions about the weeks-long speculation linking him to vacancies at Virginia Tech, Penn State and, most recently, UCLA. His answers were telling, part of the awkward and ill-timed hiring cycles that diminish college football’s, and to a lesser degree, college basketball’s championship events.
“I told (the players) this year’s team is this year’s team,” Chesney said on the Zoom. “Just the same as probably anyone else, our seniors are going to graduate. I’m sure some guys will hit the portal. I’m sure some coaches will stay, some coaches will go. That’s just the nature of the beast that’s been created.
“To me that has nothing to do with this year’s team. You’re talking about next year, and next year needs to be addressed when it’s appropriate. We’re sitting in game week of a championship football game, and to me that is the most important thing that we focus on right now. Yes, there will be outside noise, and yes there will be conversations that have to be had and things that have to be done. But at the same point in time, that affects nothing about what we’re doing this year.”
During his Q&A with Harrisonburg reporters, Chesney compared a season to an hour glass.
“Eventually that final little grain of sand falls out and that’s the completion of this year’s team. I think it’s important that you know you gave it everything you had along the way.”
Those bread crumbs were Chesney’s winks to media, and here’s guessing he’s been forthright with his players.
“The noise is the noise, and you can’t really worry about it,” senior safety Jacob Thomas said after Chesney left the media room. “We’re focused on doing our job this Friday, and whatever happens after that happens after that.”
Yeah, they all knew then. And everyone knows now.
James Madison safety Jacob Thomas (7) dives at Louisville wide receiver Caullin Lacy, center left, during the second half of an NCAA college football game in Louisville, Ky., Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)
Bravo to Chesney for the internal transparency — remember how McNeese State’s basketball team upset Clemson in last season’s NCAA Tournament after Will Wade essentially told the squad he was leaving for NC State? And bravo to the JMU and UCLA administrations for allowing Chesney to coach not only Friday, but also in the College Football Playoff if the Dukes qualify.
Friday’s American Conference championship game between North Texas and Tulane features the same dynamic — times two. Tulane coach Jon Sumrall has accepted the Florida job, and North Texas coach Eric Morris is headed to Oklahoma State, and Friday’s winner will take his soon-to-be-former program to the CFP if selected.
This is worlds apart from Lane Kiffin asking Ole Miss officials to let him coach in the playoff. Kiffin left the Rebels for LSU, a loathed conference rival, and Ole Miss wisely punted him, promoted defensive coordinator Pete Golding and began CFP preparations in earnest.
Chesney, Sumrall and Morris are headed to schools that will increase their compensation many times over and rarely recruit against their current employer. JMU offered to make Chesney the Sun Belt’s highest-paid coach at north of $1 million annually and to further invest in player compensation, but no Group of Five program can compete financially with Power Four salaries of $5 million-plus.
Prior to the playoff’s expansion from four to 12 teams and the guarantee of a Group of Five team in the field, the highest-ranked G5 champion was assured a major bowl bid. Each of the first eight coaches to reach that mantel eventually landed a Power Four job.
Boise State’s Bryan Harsin to Auburn; Houston’s Tom Herman to Texas; Western Michigan’s P.J. Fleck to Minnesota; UCF’s Scott Frost and Josh Heupel to Nebraska and Tennessee, respectively; Memphis’ Mike Norvell to Florida State; Cincinnati’s Luke Fickell to Wisconsin, and Tulane’s Willie Fritz to Houston (the Cougars moved from the American to the Big 12 in the most recent realignment wave).
David Teel: JMU on fringe of playoff contention as speculation swirls around coach Bob Chesney
Combine Chesney’s 131-51 career record — he’s 20-5 in two seasons at JMU — with an unprecedented coaching carousel that saw Virginia Tech, Penn State, UCLA, Oklahoma State, LSU, Florida, Auburn and Arkansas fire their coaches before Nov. 5, and Chesney’s departure felt inevitable.
Shame on the commissioners, athletic directors, university presidents and agents who have allowed, and in some cases encouraged, the no-honor-among-thieves hiring practices that tarnish the sport. But as Chesney said, this is “the beast” that’s been created.
At UCLA, he inherits a downtrodden Big Ten program that has managed just four top-25 seasons since 2000. Attendance at the Rose Bowl is dreadful — the Bruins drew an announced crowd of 38,201 for their home finale against Washington — and the school is attempting to escape its lease and move its games to SoFi Stadium, home of the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams and Chargers.
One might think Chesney could have done better. But legions of us said the same when Curt Cignetti left JMU two years ago for Indiana.
David Teel, david.teel@virginiamedia.com
