Bob Chesney
Bob Chesney went 138–52 as a head coach, 2010–2026, at Salve Regina, Assumption, Holy Cross, James Madison and UCLA. Wikipedia’s season articles record one season differently (2026, 5–0); by them his record is 137–52. Share
14 seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 2010–12 at Salve Regina; 2013–17 at Assumption; 2018–23 at Holy Cross. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 138–52 career
- Seasons
- 17
- Schools
- 5
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Aug 10, 1977
- Alma mater
- Dickinson 2000
- Best season
- 2025 12–2, No. 19
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Salve Regina * | 6–4 | 3rd | |||
| 2011 | Salve Regina * | 8–3 | 3rd | ECAC Northwest W | ||
| 2012 | Salve Regina * | 9–2 | 1st | 24 | ||
| 2013 | Assumption * | 6–5 | 4th | |||
| 2014 | Assumption * | 7–4 | T–3rd | |||
| 2015 | Assumption * | 11–2 | 1st | NCAA Division II Second Round L | 17 | |
| 2016 | Assumption * | 9–3 | 2nd | NCAA Division II First Round L | 25 | |
| 2017 | Assumption * | 11–2 | 1st | NCAA Division II Quarterfinal L | 9 | |
| 2018 | Holy Cross * | 5–6 | T–2nd | |||
| 2019 | Holy Cross * | 7–6 | 1st | NCAA Division I First Round L | ||
| 2020 | Holy Cross * | 3–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I First Round L | 25 | |
| 2021 | Holy Cross * | 10–3 | 1st | NCAA Division I Second Round L | 22 | |
| 2022 | Holy Cross * | 12–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I Quarterfinal L | 6 | |
| 2023 | Holy Cross * | 7–4 | T–1st | 25 | ||
| 2024 | James Madison | 9–4 | T–3rd | Boca Raton Bowl W | ||
| 2025 | James Madison | 12–2 | 1st | CFP First Round L | 19 | |
| 2026 | UCLA | 6–0 (Wikipedia: 5–0) |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table. * A season our game records don’t credit to him; its record is the article’s.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 2 | 1–1 | 50% |
| Against top-10 teams | 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 4 | 4–0 | 100% |
| Conference games | 20 | 16–4 | 80% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 2 | 1–1 | 50% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 7 | 5–2 | 71% |
| At home | 16 | 15–1 | 94% |
| On the road | 16 | 11–5 | 69% |
| At neutral sites | 1 | 1–0 | 100% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 29 | 25–4 | 86% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 4 | 2–2 | 50% |
His own 33 games on file, 2024–2026, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Old Dominionseries | 2 | 2–0 |
| Coastal Carolinaseries | 2 | 2–0 |
| Georgia Stateseries | 2 | 2–0 |
| Marshallseries | 2 | 1–1 |
| Georgia Southernseries | 2 | 1–1 |
| App Stateseries | 2 | 1–1 |
| Oregonseries | 2 | 1–1 |
| San Diego Stateseries | 1 | 1–0 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | Norwich | Graduate assistant | |
| 2002 | Delaware Valley | Defensive coordinator | |
| 2003–04 | King’s (PA) | Special teams coach | |
| 2005–06 | Johns Hopkins | Special teams and defensive backs coach | |
| 2007–08 | Johns Hopkins | Defensive coordinator and special teams and defensive backs coach | |
| 2009 | Johns Hopkins | Assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | |
| 2010–12 | Salve Regina | Head coach | |
| 2013–17 | Assumption | Head coach | |
| 2018–23 | Holy Cross | Head coach | |
| 2024–25 | James Madison | Head coach | |
| 2026–present | UCLA | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- G. A. MangusDelaware Valley
Assistants who became head coaches
- Paul McGonagleFitchburg State, Endicott
- Patrick MurphySaint Anselm
Worked under (1)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| G. A. Mangus | Delaware Valley | 2002 | Defensive coordinator |
Coached under him, later head coaches (2)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paul McGonagle | Assumption, 2013: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; 2014: assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; 2015–17: assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and tight ends coach | Fitchburg State, Endicott | |
| Patrick Murphy | Holy Cross, 2018–19: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Saint Anselm |
Other assistants under him (7)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Colin Hitschler | Salve Regina, 2011: co-STC and defensive line coach; James Madison, 2025: defensive coordinator; UCLA, 2026: defensive coordinator | |
| Brian Vaganek | Holy Cross, 2018–23: linebackers coach | |
| Justin Roper | Holy Cross, 2020–21: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Dean Kennedy | Holy Cross, 2022: quarterbacks coach; 2023: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; James Madison, 2024–25: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; UCLA, 2026: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Lyle Hemphill | James Madison, 2024: defensive coordinator and safeties coach | |
| Richard Rodgers Sr. | James Madison, 2025: assistant head coach; UCLA, 2026: special assistant to the head coach | |
| Vic So’oto | UCLA, 2026: linebackers coach |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
How he coached
Chesney’s teams went for it on 25% of fourth downs and on 47% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 44% of plays and took 27.9 seconds a play, 2024–2026.
| Season | School | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 13 g | James Madison | 29 of 103 28% | 54% | 47% | 26.8 | +0.05 | |
| 2025 14 g | James Madison | 21 of 89 24% | 47% | 42% | 28.3 | +0.13 | |
| 2026 6 g | UCLA | 6 of 36 17% | 25% | 42% | 29.6 | +0.12 | |
| All 33 g | 56 of 228 25% | 47% | 44% | 27.9 | +0.10 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.