Bob Chesney Reveals Plan To Juggle Playoff Game vs. Oregon And New UCLA Job

The Oregon Ducks learned during Sunday’s selection show who their first opponent is on their College Football Playoff (CFP) journey. Oregon is set to host the James Madison Dukes in the five vs. 12 matchup at Autzen Stadium.

Leading the Dukes is head coach Bob Chesney, who the Ducks may be seeing more of in the coming years. The UCLA Bruins announced Chesney as their next head coach on December 6, but he’ll finish out the postseason with JMU first.

Chesney spoke about the postseason clash with Oregon and his upcoming coaching transition with the Bruins when he joined the selection show.

What Fans Should Expect to See from the Dukes Against Oregon

oregon ducks james madison dukes college football playoff bob chesney indiana hoosiers curt cignetti dan lanning ucla bruins — Holy Cross football coach Bob Chesney talks to the team after Saturday's spring game. HC 20 | Photo/Alan Arsenault / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Dukes moved up from the FCS to the FBS back in 2022 and have quickly experienced success. The playoff game at Autzen will be a unique matchup between a Big Ten program and Sun Belt school.

“I think you're going to see a confident bunch. I think you're going to see an inspired bunch. And I think you're going to see us continue to attack every single opportunity that we have. Confident, inspired attack – that will be our mantra as we go through this. That's been our mantra up to this point in time,” Chesney said.

“The preparation that these guys deal with every single week, the ability to block out the noise and to just focus on the process and the task at hand are the things that I watch them do at an elite level.”

How Former Dukes Coach Curt Cignetti’s Run Inspires JMU

Oregon’s lone loss this season came against the Indiana Hoosiers at Autzen Stadium. The Hoosiers remain undefeated entering the CFP, coming off a Big Ten Conference Championship.

Current Indiana coach Curt Cignetti coached the Dukes prior to his current gig with the Hoosiers. Chesney spoke about how Cignetti and the former Dukes who went to Indiana are inspiring JMU this season.

“I know that a lot of our guys continue to be in great communication with those guys. We cheer for the Hoosiers every single week, everybody's got their back from here in Harrisonburg, because they played on this field and were part of this program,” he said.

“And those are things that I think every week when we watch them, I think it makes it that much more realistic for our guys to understand that they can play at that highest level.”

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Balancing JMU’s Postseason with UCLA Coaching Transition

Plenty of coaching changes have occurred across the college football landscape in the past couple of weeks. Some coaches have decided to start with their new programs full-time, leaving their former program with an interim coach through the postseason, while others are juggling two jobs at once.

Like Oregon coordinators Will Stein and Tosh Lupoi, Chesney is among those who elected to stay with his current team through the postseason.

“I'll be on my way tomorrow out to LA. I'll have a chance to be with the team and handle a press conference, and I'll be right back on the plane, getting back here by Wednesday,” Chesney said.

“We'll have everything broken down, and we'll have our meetings in the evening, and then we're practicing Thursday, Friday, and then turning around the game week on Sunday,” He continued. “So excited to do all of those things in the immediate future.”

The Importance of Team’s Like JMU Playing in the CFP

There's been plenty of debate about the new CFP format in the past two years. Some have argued that non-Power Four teams like JMU shouldn't be included in the bracket, but Chesney disagrees.

“I think it'd be really hard to look a group like us in the eye and say that you're not deserving of this after all the work and things they've done,” Cheney said. “We can't control our schedule. We can only control what we do on game day, and I think we handle their business properly.”

The Emotions of the Bracket Reveal

Reaching the CFP is a milestone moment for any program. Chesney discussed the emotions of anxiously waiting to find out they're postseason status.

“You feel like you've gotten to this part where you deserve to be part of this conversation, and to be dead last, for you guys to save us for the last possible team, there's a little bit of emotion, there's a little bit of anxiety coming with it, but it was great when that name finally popped up,” Chesney said. “Streamers are flying, and our guys were ready to go.”