After a successful regular season, Bob Chesney is ready to lead the James Madison University football team in its first-ever College Football Playoff appearance.
The No. 12 Dukes visit No. 7 Oregon on Saturday, December 20, in the first-round matchup, with a chance to earn a spot in the quarterfinal round of the 12-team bracket.
Chesney has been at the helm at JMU since 2023, but it was announced on December 6 that Chesney will be coaching at UCLA next season.
Despite the move, he’ll finish this year on the sidelines with the Dukes, leading JMU through the postseason.
“I’d like to thank Martin Jarmond, Chancellor 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 became abundantly clear to me that UCLA is willing to do what it takes to build a championship-level program. UCLA is a very special place. From its stellar 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 read more about Chesney:
Led JMU to the Sun Belt Conference Championship
This season has been one of the best-ever for JMU — the second season with Chesney on the sideline.
The Dukes finished the regular season with a 12-1 record, 8-0 in conference play, capped off with the program’s first Sun Belt Conference Championship. The wins, in addition to the conference championship, earned JMU a spot in the College Football Playoff bracket and an opportunity to compete for a national championship.
Chesney earned 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.
Spent six successful seasons with Holy Cross before JMU
Before his time at JMU, Chesney brought success to the Holy Cross football program.
He spent six seasons as head coach of the team (2018-2023) and won five consecutive Patriot League Championships, a program record.
Three times, he was selected as Patriots League Coach of the Year (2019, 2021, 2022).
He finished his time at Holy Cross with a 44-21 record, including a three-year stretch from 2021-2023 that saw the team go 29-8. (That’s the program’s best three-year stretch in 30 years).
Started his coaching career in Division II and Division III
Before his continuing success in Division I football, Chesney made a name for himself by reaching new heights at both the Division II and Division III levels.
He started his head coaching career in 2012 at Division III Salve Regina, where he took a program that was in the midst of eight consecutive losing seasons and immediately 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 to winning seasons in each of his five years there, including NCAA Division II playoff appearances in each of his final three years.
He left for Holy Cross in 2018.
Married his wife in 2007 and three kids
Chesney has been married to his longtime wife, Andrea, since 2007. The two share three children: daughters Lyla and Hudson, and a son, Bo.
