Bob Chesneys UCLA debut shows Bruins have right man for job

BERKELEY — More than an hour before kickoff, Bob Chesney walked around like he owned the place.Looking stylish in an all-black outfit with sunglasses, the new UCLA football coach also wore a loose-and-confident vibe that he exuded in every interaction on the field.He elicited a hearty laugh from a referee.He smiled near the end of a conversation with defensive coordinator Colin Hitschler.

He made sure to fit in some family time, grabbing a ball and flinging passes to his 11-year-old son, Bo.When Bo dropped one perfectly thrown ball in the corner of the end zone, Chesney held out his arms as if to ask, in jest, “Hey, what are you doing?”In the hours that followed Saturday night inside Memorial Stadium, it was clear Chesney had a damn good idea what he was doing.In a battle of old rivals and new coaches, Chesney came out on top — by a mile.He easily bested Cal’s Tosh Lupoi during the Bruins’ 45-24 victory by remaining steady and poised when things got tight.Chesney’s calming sideline presence gave the impression that no matter what happened, he could quickly formulate the needed response to give his team an edge.That was exactly what happened as UCLA’s defense tightened, its run game was fully unleashed and the Bruins rolled off the game’s final 21 points.Unflinching no matter what happened, these were the Badass Bruins.“It feels,” Chesney said, “like we’ve been playing football here for a long time.”Along the way, Chesney showed once again that his methods work, no matter the level of football.

Does anyone still doubt him? The man who was coaching in NCAA Division II less than a decade ago knows what it takes to elevate a team and galvanize a long-suffering fan base.While UCLA and USC haven’t been to the College Football Playoff, Chesney has — and appears equally driven to get back there with a program that hasn’t played in a major bowl game this century.Chesney said late Saturday that he’s given every recruit the same message.�...