How Bob Chesney has reshaped UCLA's recruiting surge

PASADENA, Calif. – Sounds of hammers, drills and other tools filled the south end of the Rose Bowl during UCLA’s Spring Game on Saturday as construction continued on the stadium’s latest renovation project – the South End Zone Field Club. 

Just across the way along the north end zone, a different kind of foundation was being laid. The rising voices of nearly a hundred UCLA recruits were just as loud as the construction on the other end of the field – yet inspired far more optimism about the program’s future than any luxury stadium section ever could. 

UCLA has seen its biggest recruiting surge since the Jim Mora era just five months into coach Bob Chesney’s tenure in Westwood. Fresh off seven new commitments from the class of 2027 – seven four-stars and three three-stars – over the weekend, the Bruins hold the No. 4 recruiting class in the nation, according to 247Sports. 

Four-star Long Beach Poly cornerback JuJu Johnson and four-star Cherry Creek (Colorado) Englewood offensive lineman Jackson Roper were among the recruits gathered along the north end zone, watching the Bruins take the field on Saturday. Johnson, the nation’s No. 12 cornerback, announced his commitment just hours before the Spring Game. Roper, the top recruit in Colorado, announced his a day earlier. 

So, what’s the secret? What is Chesney doing on the recruiting trail that so many of his predecessors in Westwood couldn’t? Well, it has little to do with football. 

“Just think about this for a minute,” Chesney told reporters on Saturday. “Where we’re sitting and as a coaching staff at a university. It’s the number one public university in the country, right? And then you add the fact that it’s the most applied-to school in the country.”

According to College Transitions, a group of expert college consultants, UCLA was the most applied-to university in the nation, with 145,904 applicants and an 11.6% acceptance rate in 2025. The group projects that for the class of 2027, the university will remain atop the list. Chesney emphasized the school’s competitive acceptance rate, which consistently remains the lowest among public universities in the nation: “That’s elite.”

Chesney acknowledges who his players brush shoulders with in UCLA’s athletic department – first-round draft picks from baseball and women’s basketball and, of course, the Olympic athletes. 

He continues, “that’s not even yet mentioning what happens on this campus. Because of the [low] acceptance rate and the caliber of students that we have here, you’re talking about future CEOs, doctors, lawyers, engineers, you know, leaders of America. And this is rare air that our guys get to breathe every single day surrounded by greatness. 

“The guys that are committing understand that this isn’t something that’s just a football decision. This is a decision that could change your life. … I want them to make sure when they think about themselves at 40, are they still as proud of that decision as they were today? I think that can all be answered in the affirmative just because of the type of school this is and the location that it’s at.”

It’s unclear whether Bruins fans will get to savor the Rose Bowl’s newest renovation beyond this season, with rumored plans to move home games to SoFi Stadium delayed until at least next year. But what is becoming clear is that the foundation Chesney is building on the recruiting trail is one fans can count on for years to come.