As the calendar flips from October to November, the 2026 college football coaching carousel is officially revving up, with 3 Power 4 jobs already open after Maryland, Baylor, and NC State fired their head coaches last week.
Several more prominent jobs are expected to be on the market in the coming weeks, and first-year UCLA head man Bob Chesney is likely to be at or near the top of the list for every athletic director looking to make a new hire.
Reporters asked Chesney Tuesday afternoon about his name being linked to the current openings, and the National Coach of the Year candidate shut down any speculation that he would want to be anywhere else.
“This is the greatest place in the world to play football, and it’s the greatest place in the world to coach football,” Chesney said. “I think, you know, that I am extremely blessed to be here. My family loves it here, I love it here, I mean it’s November almost and look at us out here. I truly love it here.”
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Chesney may love coaching in sunny Southern California, but that won’t stop other programs from trying to poach him away from the Bruins. He’s been a head coach for over 15 years at just about every level of the sport, and he’s turned every program he’s touched into a perennial winner.
He currently has UCLA sitting at 7-0 with a real shot at winning the Big Ten and making their first-ever CFP appearance, something that was unthinkable just a year ago. For that reason, every big-time program is going to come calling, and only time will tell whether Chesney ends up telling them all no.
