As UCLA football enters its first year under coach Bob Chesney and third season in the Big Ten, Daily Bruin Sports will preview the personnel of each of the Bruins’ position groups and predict their 2026 outlook prior to the season’s official start Sept.

The makeover scene in many classic coming-of-age movies follows a familiar script: An outcast falls under the wing of a more popular figure, emerging transformed with newfound confidence, popularity and an opportunity to redefine themselves.

For a fifth time, the Bruins have a chance to conquer uncharted waters.
Having won back-to-back NCAA championships on five separate occasions, the blue and gold have never been able to keep the streak alive for a third straight national title.

As UCLA football enters its first year under coach Bob Chesney and third season in the Big Ten, Daily Bruin Sports will preview the personnel of the Bruins’ position groups and predict their 2026 outlook prior to the season’s Sept.

UCLA football begins its 2026 season Sept. 5 against California away at California Memorial Stadium. After a disparaging 3-9 campaign last year, the Bruins begin a new era under coach Bob Chesney, with both former conference rivals seeing major roster turnover and staff changes during the offseason.

There may never have been a more confusing time to be a college football fan.
Just two days after UCLA football’s newest member – fifth-year linebacker Trent Hendrick – transferred to the program after receiving a temporary restraining order from a Louisiana court, granting him and several other athletes a fifth year of eligibility, the Big Ten became the first FBS conference to pass a rule that bans NFL players from returning to play in the conference.

UCLA is set to enter its third season in the Big Ten, following a sophomore campaign in which the program captured three NCAA championships – the most of any Big Ten school.