Coaching Era · UCLA1988
The Gutty Little Bruins era
Donahue's nationally ranked, Rose Bowl-winning teams
UCLA
2-0Latest
Big Ten · Bob Chesney, year 1 (2-0) · Rose Bowl · 88,565 · 31,976 avg in 2026
The nationunrankedAP / Coaches
The model#51 CFB ZeitgeistSP+ #36 (+9.2) · FPI #38
The marketUCLA by 14.5vs Purdue · our model 84% UCLA · a number, not a pick
LastW 28–10 vs San Diego State · Sat Sep 12 · Jalen Woods 1 sacks, 1 TFL, 1 INT
Nextvs Purdue · Sat Sep 19 · 11 pm ET · Rose Bowl · UCLA by 14.5 · series 3-0-2, won the last 2 · Game preview
Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2
The CFP Era
12 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.
TRAJECTORY · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program Quality
AP Rank (inverted)
CFP Appearance
UCLA's 2014–2025 record is 71-73. The era is still being written; the CFP line is the one the program is arguing for.
Program outlook
UCLA plays its home games in the Rose Bowl and recruits a talent base that programs in the midwest would trade their practice facilities for. It has produced Troy Aikman, and it has not won a conference title since 1998. Then came an 0-3 start, a fired coach, and a transfer quarterback who dragged the season back from the floor.
Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs
The gap between what UCLA has and what it has produced is the program's whole story. The Rose Bowl in Pasadena. An NFL alumni list that includes Hall of Famers. One of the richest recruiting footprints in the country — the most concentrated talent corridor in the sport sits within driving distance of practice. Terry Donahue's teams ran that back into Rose Bowls for a decade. That was the 1980s. The program has been searching for the version of itself that matches the address ever since.
The 2025 season was the latest installment of the same story, with a specific new wrinkle. DeShaun Foster went 0-3 in September and was dismissed after 15 games as head coach. Nico Iamaleava — the Tennessee transfer who arrived from a 2025 NIL standoff that made national news — took over under interim Tim Skipper and ran the offense to life, earning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week and announcing he would return for 2026. Bob Chesney, fresh off a 12-1 Sun Belt championship season at James Madison, came in as the new head coach. The offseason math: a legitimate quarterback, a proven developer, the same address it has always had.
The 2026 question is whether the combination of Chesney and Iamaleava finally bridges the gap the program has never closed. Chesney at James Madison built an overachiever on less. The theory is that the same model with more — the recruiting footprint, the brand, the stadium — produces a different ceiling. UCLA has offered that theory before. What it has not offered yet is proof.
On the field
LA cool with blue-blood bones — the Bruins operate in a pro-style system with room for the quarterback to operate, suited to the high-end skill talent the Southern California market produces. Bob Chesney's James Madison offense was built around tempo and execution over athleticism gap, which will face its first real test against Big Ten defensive lines. The Rose Bowl plays big and fast; the identity Chesney is building is built to match it.
All-time record · UCLA
UCLA has won 58% of its games since 1925 — 65% at home, 49% on the road.
625-428-31 all-time · 102 seasons · 1925–2026
Home
379-187-15
Away
228-221-15
Neutral
18-20-1
40%
1920s
55%
1930s
47%
1940s
70%
1950s
58%
1960s
62%
1970s
69%
1980s
60%
1990s
54%
2000s
50%
2010s
54%
2020s
Coaching Era · UCLA
Bob Chesney
Bob Chesney took over from Tim Skipper (interim) for the 2026 season.
Era Bob Chesney · 2026–presentPrev: Tim Skipper (interim) (2025)OC: Dean KennedyPrev OC: Tino Sunseri (interim) (2025)DC: Colin HitschlerPrev DC: Ikaika Malloe (2024–2025)
1
year · era
Program memory
What this program never forgets
Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.
2024
The Big Ten move
UCLA leaves the Pac-12 for the Big Ten — cross-country realignment that reshaped the program's identity
Wound
2025
The Foster firing
An 0-3 start gets the second-year coach dismissed after 15 games
Heartbreak
Moment of the season — so far · UCLA · 2026
Moment of the season — so far · UCLA · 2026Won 45-24 at California
Week 1 of 2026. A statement margin. Recruiting boards re-rendered overnight. It turned on one snap in Q4 — Wayne Knight, a 49-point win-probability swing.
NFL Draft Pipeline
2022–2025
NFL Draft PipelineUCLA has sent 17 players to the NFL Draft since 2022 — one of them in the first round.
Strong. 1 first-round picks. Recruits with NFL ambitions notice.
17
picks · 1 in round 1
#15
Laiatu Latu
Defensive Edge · 2024 · Indianapolis · #1/418 final season
#33
Carson Schwesinger
Linebacker · 2025 · Cleveland · #7/571 final season
#52
Oluwafemi Oladejo
Defensive Edge · 2025 · Tennessee · #450/578 final season
#18 all-time · 34 first-round picksthe talent factory →
More in this tab
Ladder finish
Season standing · 2026 · 2-0
Season standing · 2026 · 2-0UCLA is 2-0 and unranked in the season's first weeks.
Even or better through the season's first weeks. The resume is still forming.
FBS competitive
Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
Coaching history
Coaching history
- Hired Bob Chesney
- Hired Tim Skipper (interim)
- Deshaun Foster departs
- Tim Skipper departs (interim)
- Hired Deshaun Foster
- Chip Kelly departs
- Hired Chip Kelly
- Hired Jedd Fisch
Coordinator lineage
Unit lineage
UCLA’s offense and defense, by coordinator
FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.
Offense2014–2026
2014–2015 · Noel Mazzone2016 · Kennedy Polamalu2017 · Jedd Fisch2018 · Chip Kelly2019–2021 · Justin Frye2022 · Chip Kelly2024 · Eric Bieniemy2025 · Tino Sunseri (interim)2026 · Dean Kennedy
Defense2014–2026
2014 · Jeff Ulbrich2015–2017 · Tom Bradley2018–2021 · Jerry Azzinaro2022 · Bill McGovern2023 · D'Anton Lynn2024–2025 · Ikaika Malloe2026 · Colin Hitschler
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customs
Rituals
Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.
The Eight Clap
since 1948
more
Coordinated 8-beat clap — '1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, U-C-L-A!' Pioneered by UCLA cheer in 1948. Carried by alumni to NBA arenas, road games, Olympic events. The most-traveled cheer in CFB; sometimes outnumbers home-team cheers in road stadiums.
Pauley Pavilion / Rose Bowl Crossover
since 1985
more
UCLA football plays in the Rose Bowl 30 miles from campus. UCLA basketball plays in Pauley on campus. The geographic awkwardness IS part of the program's identity — Saturday in Pasadena, Saturday night back in Westwood. The 2-venue rhythm shapes the fan experience.
Joe Bruin Mascot
since 1949
more
Joe Bruin (and Josephine Bruin from 1965) — the bear mascots. The 1949-era costumes are now museum pieces. Joe interacts with fans through the entire game; sometimes appears at Hollywood premieres.
Cultural identity
Canon appearances
Featured in The Canon
Bowls
Bowl / Postseason Ledger
Bowl / Postseason LedgerRecent postseason (2014-2023): 2-3
Most recent: 2023 — win 22-35 (away). Last 5 postseason: 2-3.
20232022201720152014
Reddit blowups
r/cfb moments
3.2k
[Postgame Thread] UCLA Defeats LSU 38-27
2.4k
[Postgame Thread] USC Defeats UCLA 48-45
2.3k
[Postgame Thread] UCLA Defeats USC 38-20
1.5k
[Postgame Thread] UCLA Defeats USC 62-33
867
[Postgame Thread] USC Defeats UCLA 43-38
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