University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Photo by: Isabella Serafini
Chesney, UCLA Open The Doors to Local High School Coaches
April 28, 2026 | Football
On a Friday evening at the Wasserman Football Center, the familiar rhythms of spring football took on a slightly different audience. Approximately 175 high school football coaches filled the building, from California, Arizona and Virginia for a special in-depth high school coaches clinic, part of a deliberate outreach effort by UCLA's new head coach, Bob Chesney.
"I thought it went great," Chesney said. "We had a lot of coaches, with three different states represented. So, it is really important for us to be able to start some of these relationships."
Chesney has spoken often since arriving in Westwood about grounding the program in connection — to its city, its alumni and, increasingly, to the high school coaches whose players may one day fill UCLA's roster.
"The people said, you're coming from the East Coast, how do you build relationships?" Chesney said. "You've got to start them."
The clinic was structured as more than an open practice. Coaches arrived early and were brought through a program overview led by Chesney, followed by offensive and defensive presentations, position-specific meeting sessions and on-field instruction designed to show how teaching translates from classroom to grass.
"Today wasn't a practice," Chesney said. "More of a walk-through."
He explained how the day unfolded.
"These coaches came in," he said. "We did a big programmatic overview, big offense and defensive overview, and then they went off to their position meeting rooms."
From there, the group moved outside.
"Then we came out on the field and did those exact drills that they talked about in the meetings," Chesney said, "with a little bit of a practice formatted with seven-on-seven and some of the compete things at the end."
The goal was simple: show rather than explain.
"Just something for them to better understand and feel in person instead of watching on a videotape," he said.
Chesney has it a priority for the program to be as accessible as possible since being named the Bruins head coach in December.
"I've been around almost every school that I could possibly get to in the time allotted," Chesney said. "And then I spoke at a clinic."
But he emphasized that visits alone are not enough.
"For me, being present as much as I possibly can is important," he said.
So is transparency.
"We said it from day one that they'll have access to practices," Chesney said. "They'll have access to meetings. They'll have access to just getting a feel for how we do things."
That openness, he said, matters when high school coaches are deciding where to send their players.
"That's going to be important for them to understand our development process, for them to trust us and understand what type of program their player will be coming into," Chesney said.
While the focus of the clinic was football instruction, Chesney was quick to frame the event as part of something broader.
After the whistle blew and the formal sessions ended, the evening shifted.
"Now just take off the whistle and the coaching hats," Chesney said, "and everybody hang out a little bit together."
The conversations that followed, he said, were just as important.
"Talk shop if you want, just talk life if you want," Chesney said. "That's what we're about to do and I'm excited for that, just getting to know us."
Chesney said the day was designed to show not just drills or schemes, but values.
"The tempo at which we move," he said. "The passion, the energy, the joy that we play with, the toughness that we play with."
Those elements, he said, cannot be conveyed fully at a distance.
"All those things are really important for them to understand what their players will be entering into if they choose UCLA," Chesney said. "So I think that's very, very important."
As the Bruins attention turns to the Spring Game coming up on May 2, it was important to have one day available to make the program visible and open to the coaches that are shaping the next generation.
"I thought it went great," Chesney said. "We had a lot of coaches, with three different states represented. So, it is really important for us to be able to start some of these relationships."
Chesney has spoken often since arriving in Westwood about grounding the program in connection — to its city, its alumni and, increasingly, to the high school coaches whose players may one day fill UCLA's roster.
"The people said, you're coming from the East Coast, how do you build relationships?" Chesney said. "You've got to start them."
The clinic was structured as more than an open practice. Coaches arrived early and were brought through a program overview led by Chesney, followed by offensive and defensive presentations, position-specific meeting sessions and on-field instruction designed to show how teaching translates from classroom to grass.
"Today wasn't a practice," Chesney said. "More of a walk-through."
He explained how the day unfolded.
"These coaches came in," he said. "We did a big programmatic overview, big offense and defensive overview, and then they went off to their position meeting rooms."
From there, the group moved outside.
"Then we came out on the field and did those exact drills that they talked about in the meetings," Chesney said, "with a little bit of a practice formatted with seven-on-seven and some of the compete things at the end."
The goal was simple: show rather than explain.
"Just something for them to better understand and feel in person instead of watching on a videotape," he said.
Chesney has it a priority for the program to be as accessible as possible since being named the Bruins head coach in December.
"I've been around almost every school that I could possibly get to in the time allotted," Chesney said. "And then I spoke at a clinic."
But he emphasized that visits alone are not enough.
"For me, being present as much as I possibly can is important," he said.
So is transparency.
"We said it from day one that they'll have access to practices," Chesney said. "They'll have access to meetings. They'll have access to just getting a feel for how we do things."
That openness, he said, matters when high school coaches are deciding where to send their players.
"That's going to be important for them to understand our development process, for them to trust us and understand what type of program their player will be coming into," Chesney said.
While the focus of the clinic was football instruction, Chesney was quick to frame the event as part of something broader.
After the whistle blew and the formal sessions ended, the evening shifted.
"Now just take off the whistle and the coaching hats," Chesney said, "and everybody hang out a little bit together."
The conversations that followed, he said, were just as important.
"Talk shop if you want, just talk life if you want," Chesney said. "That's what we're about to do and I'm excited for that, just getting to know us."
Chesney said the day was designed to show not just drills or schemes, but values.
"The tempo at which we move," he said. "The passion, the energy, the joy that we play with, the toughness that we play with."
Those elements, he said, cannot be conveyed fully at a distance.
"All those things are really important for them to understand what their players will be entering into if they choose UCLA," Chesney said. "So I think that's very, very important."
As the Bruins attention turns to the Spring Game coming up on May 2, it was important to have one day available to make the program visible and open to the coaches that are shaping the next generation.
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