In an ongoing theme of this season, a head coach of a College Football Playoff contender accepted another job prior to the formation of the bracket.
On Saturday, Dec. 6, less than 24 hours after winning
a Sun Belt championship, James Madison head coach Bob Chesney was officially hired to the same position at UCLA.
Chesney is the second JMU head coach in a 3-year span to directly move to the Big Ten. His predecessor Curt Cignetti accepted the head coaching role at Indiana following the completion of the 2023 regular season. Chesney, who thrived at the Division III (Salve Regina), Division II (Assumption), and FCS (Holy Cross) levels, replaced Cignetti and sustained the Dukes’ winning tradition.
At the time of his hiring, Chesney produced a 21-5 record in two seasons at James Madison. In 2024, he finished 9-4, winning the Boca Raton Bowl over WKU to claim the Dukes’ first bowl victory in program history. This season, Chesney currently has JMU situated at No. 19 in the AP Poll and No. 25 in the College Football Playoff rankings at 12-1.
With Chesney leading the way, James Madison defeated Troy 31-14 in the Sun Belt Championship Game in Harrisonburg, VA on Friday night, marking the program’s first league title in four years of FBS membership. The Dukes will be in consideration for the College Football Playoff but likely require 7-5 Duke to defeat 10-2 Virginia in Saturday night’s ACC Championship Game to qualify as one of the five highest-ranked conference champions.
Like several other coaches of CFP contenders including Eric Morris and Jon Sumrall, Chesney received permission to continue coaching the Dukes through the College Football Playoff, should his team qualify.
Chesney’s Dukes were one of 10 FBS teams with one loss or fewer heading into conference championship weekend. After winning the Sun Belt, James Madison rides an 11-game win streak (third-longest in FBS) with a 28-14 Week 2 loss at Louisville serving as its lone defeat. JMU ranks among the elite in a multitude of categories, checking in 10th nationally in scoring, 6th in rushing offense, 5th in total defense, 5th in run defense, and 12th in pass defense as one of the most balanced teams in the country. Prior to the weekend, the Dukes owned the sixth-best point differential against FBS opponents this year at +20.6 per game, only trailing CFP locks Indiana, Texas Tech, Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Oregon.
Chesney will become UCLA’s 20th full-time head coach, and UCLA is slated to pay a $1.25 million buyout for his services. He will succeed DeShaun Foster, who was fired on Sept. 14 after an 0-3 start to the season. Chesney aims to lead the Bruins to their first winning season as a Big Ten member and will officially debut Saturday, Sept. 5 in a road game against former Pac-12 rival California.
James Madison moved quickly in finding its 2026 replacement for Chesney. The program hired former Louisiana and Florida head coach Billy Napier. Napier was fired by Florida on Oct. 19, 2025 after a 3-4 start to the season, but in 2024, he guided the Gators to their first winning campaign since 2020. He finished 22-23 in Gainesville, however, he saw immense success during his last stint in the Sun Belt. At Louisiana, Napier won 2019 and 2021 Sun Belt Coach of the Year honors, posting a 40-12 record through four seasons.
He won the Sun Belt West division title in all four years at the helm (2018-21) and emerged triumphant the conference championship game in 2020 and 2021. Napier won two bowl games and finished ranked in the final AP Poll twice — warranting a No. 15 ranking for compiling a 10-1 record in 2020 and No. 16 for a 13-1 record in 2021. Those are Louisiana’s only two seasons ever appearing in the AP Poll.
Napier aims to continue that level of success with the reigning Sun Belt champions, officially taking full reins of the program once the Dukes play their upcoming postseason game — whether it’s a bowl or a CFP game.
