Major college football team adds 41 players in transfer portal after coaching change

Los Angeles, CA, USA; Bob Chesney is introduced as UCLA Bruins football coach at press conference at Renee Luskin Conference Center Centennial Ballroom. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

On Jan. 11, 2026, California defensive tackle Tyson Ford announced his commitment to UCLA, joining the program’s sprawling 2026 transfer class assembled under new head coach Bob Chesney.

UCLA finished the 2025 season 3–9 overall (3–6 Big Ten), a year that began with the program parting ways with second-year head coach DeShaun Foster after an 0–3 start amid widespread roster and staff instability.

Under interim head coach Tim Skipper, the Bruins salvaged several notable wins, including a 42–37 upset of No. 7 Penn State, a dominant 38–13 victory over Michigan State, and a 20–17 win over Maryland, yet the final record and volume of roster turnover made a wholesale rebuild inevitable.

On Dec. 6, 2025, UCLA hired Chesney away from James Madison after he led the Dukes to their first-ever Sun Belt title and the program’s first College Football Playoff appearance, earning a reputation as one of the sport’s most aggressive and effective roster architects.

That approach has already been evident. With Ford, a 6-5, 300-pound interior lineman and former four-star recruit, joining the Bruins, UCLA has now added 41 incoming transfers in the 2026 cycle, according to 247Sports, one of the largest portal hauls in college football.

James Madison Dukes head coach Bob Chesney looks on during the second quarter against the Oregon Ducks | Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

UCLA’s incoming portal class is not only unusually large for a Power Five program but also stocked with proven production from the 2025 season.

Among the additions are four-star transfers Sammy Omosigho, a junior linebacker from Oklahoma, and Aidan Mizell, a redshirt sophomore wide receiver from Florida.

Several of Chesney’s top performers from James Madison have also followed him to Pasadena, including All-American running back Wayne Knight, second-team All-Sun Belt edge rusher and Sun Belt Freshman of the Year Sahir West, and second-team All-Sun Belt interior lineman Riley Robell. 

Third-team All-Sun Belt selections Landon Ellis (wide receiver), Aiden Gobaira (defensive line), Carter Sweazie (interior offensive line), and DJ Barksdale (cornerback) also signed with the Bruins.

Taken together, UCLA’s portal additions reflect early buy-in to the culture and vision Chesney is attempting to establish.

Chesney arrives from James Madison following a two-year run in which the Dukes went 9–4 in 2024 before a breakout 12–2 campaign in 2025, a season that earned him Sun Belt Coach of the Year honors and the Bear Bryant Fan Favorite Coach Award.

What he inherits at UCLA is a sub-.500 team from last fall, significant staff turnover, 24 known departures during the transfer window, and the challenge of integrating a 41-player influx into a functional depth chart and identity.

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