UCLA, Bob Chesney hit the ground running in first day of fall camp
Connor Moreno
Host · Writer
LOS ANGELES — There wasn’t enough room in the air at Spaulding Field for both the blaring music and UCLA senior transfer linebacker Drew Spinogatti’s unrelenting roars during the Bruins’ stretching period on the first day of fall camp Thursday, so the music subsided.
Spinogatti, who followed Westwood’s first-year head coach Bob Chesney from James Madison and Holy Cross, is one of 63 newcomers on UCLA’s roster this season, a group that includes 45 transfers.
“Drew just brings it every day,” Chesney said. “And he plays at one speed … You’ll see it during the season. He has one speed and really only one speed, and that’s infectious to people around him, so it means a lot for him to be here.”
The excitement on the field was palpable — as is the case for the 137 other first days of fall camp in college football — and Chesney is keeping a simple, yet pointed, approach in terms of what he’s still trying to discover about the team he took over eight months ago.
“You’re always looking to get better at football and mastery of the scheme,” he said. “We’ve got to test everything in fire. That’s ultimately the name of the game here within this program. [Be] as competitive as we possibly can be every day, keep score of everything we can, and make sure we’re challenging each other and uplifting each other and learning from mistakes. Understanding that failures are gonna happen — they shouldn’t define you, but they should refine you.”
Darwin Walker – The Sporting Tribune
UCLA head coach Bob Chesney looks on during the UCLA Football Spring Showcase at Rose Bowl Stadium on May 2, 2026 in Pasadena, California.
Much has been made of Chesney’s overhaul of an underperforming UCLA football program, but just as much has been made of the work it will actually take to lead the Bruins to the heights he led James Madison and Holy Cross to this decade alone.
Chesney led Holy Cross to five-consecutive first place finishes in the FCS Patriot League and, in his second season at James Madison, gave the program its first College Football Playoff appearance to cap off a 12-2 season.
That work starts here. A sunny afternoon in early August where Chesney treats two-minute fumble recovery drills with the same intensity as he would a game-winning drive in the Rose Bowl, hammering down the importance of turning over should players find themselves on their backs when diving to retrieve a loose ball.
“Day one is day one,” Chesney added, “everyone should be excited to be here on day one. Everybody’s gonna bring everything they got on day one. It’s really day four, five, six, seven that I’m interested to just see exactly who they are and how they handle all this. We don’t get a chance to do this in spring ball.
“There’s a lot more to learn about their resolve and their toughness and all the things that come with it.”
As practices ramp up a month removed from their season-opener against California, UCLA will travel to Irvine for a practice. A trip that should mimic a bowl game atmosphere and serves as a way to just get out of Westwood, according to Chesney.
There’s plenty more to discover between the end zones of UCLA’s practice field, and Chesney won’t waste a second between now and kickoff in Berkeley to get everything he can out of the Bruins ahead of a highly-anticipated season.
