UCLAs Darold DeNgohe sees winning similarities between Curt Cignetti, Bob Chesney

Can UCLA’s Bob Chesney be the next Curt Cignetti?It’s a question that’s been asked for months given the parallels between the football coaches.Both had been head coaches at lower levels before arriving at James Madison, where they won big.Cignetti went 11-1 in his final season with the Dukes, and Chesney guided his last team there to the College Football Playoff.Cignetti went on to even more wild success at Indiana, taking a distressed operation to the CFP in back-to-back seasons, culminating with a national title in January.Might Chesney be able to do the same sort of thing with the Bruins, who haven’t played in a Rose Bowl game in more than a quarter of a century?Perhaps there’s no one with better insight into the possibility that Chesney can pull a Cignetti than UCLA defensive lineman Darold DeNgohe, who has played for both coaches.DeNgohe began his college career under Cignetti at James Madison in 2023 before playing for Chesney in 2024 upon Cignetti’s departure for Indiana.

DeNgohe transferred to Rutgers prior to last season before reuniting with Chesney in Westwood earlier this year.In a promising sign for Bruins fans, DeNgohe said there’s some significant similarities between the coaches.“They’re really just great winners, you know?” DeNgohe told the California Post on Saturday.“It’s one of those things where they go about it in different ways, but the end result is the same — they win, they know how to get the best out of you, they know how to go about it.

I think it was just something they were born with, you know, just to be winners.“They try to instill all those great attributes that they have into each player, try to bring the best out of you.You know, don’t let certain things slide, have great expectations for us and all of that.

So, it’s definitely similar in that aspect of they have the winner’s mentality, I would say.”Part of that is commanding the respect of their teams with a magnetic presence.“They just con...