UCLA Football Head Coach Bob Chesney Announces Bruins' 2026 Coordinators
Colin Hitschler and Dean Kennedy are following Chesney from Harrisonburg to Westwood.
New UCLA football head coach Bob Chesney has officially announced that both of his coordinators from his staff at James Madison will be joining him in Westwood. Colin Hitschler will serve as UCLA’s next defensive coordinator and Dean Kennedy will be the Bruins’ offensive coordinator.
“Both Colin and Dean played integral parts to our historic success at James Madison,” Chesney said. “I am thrilled that they have chosen to continue their coaching journeys in Westwood as part of our new Bruin Family. I have seen first-hand their abilities to develop elite talent and get the most out of their players over the years. We look forward to having Colin and Dean make an immediate impact here at UCLA.”
Together, Hitschler and Kennedy helped the Dukes reach new heights and accomplish numerous historic firsts. In 2025, James Madison recorded just the 10th unbeaten conference record in Sun Belt history, going 8-0, and captured the program’s first-ever Sun Belt Conference Championship and College Football Playoff (CFP) berth. The Dukes achieved their highest AP ranking in program history in Week 16 at No. 19 and finished the season with a 12-2 record.
Colin Hitschler, Defensive Coordinator
Hitschler has 15 years of coaching experience and has reached the CFP twice as a defensive coordinator, earning berths at James Madison and Cincinnati in 2021. The Philadelphia native was named the 2020 Football Scoop Defensive Backs Coach of the Year.
Hitschler presided over one of the nation’s elite defenses in his one season at James Madison, ranking fifth in the FBS with 266.6 yards allowed per game and 14th with 18.4 points allowed per game. The Dukes held opponents to under 200 yards of total offense in five contests and led the Sun Belt with 181.6 passing yards allowed per game. After halftime, Hitschler’s defense pitched six shutouts and limited opponents to an average of 5.4 points. James Madison was also eighth in the country in third down defense (29.4%), 10th in defensive touchdowns (3), 28th in sacks per game (2.57) and 32nd in tackles for loss per game (6.2).
Eight players from Hitschler’s 2025 defensive unit were named All-Sun Belt, including the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year linebacker Trent Hendrick and Freshman of the Year defensive lineman Sahir West.
Prior to James Madison, Hitschler served as the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Alabama in 2024. In his lone season in Tuscaloosa, Hitschler helped the Crimson Tide to a 9-4 record and No. 11 ranking in the final CFP rankings prior to the postseason. Under the direction of Hitschler, Alabama ranked fifth in the FBS and second in the SEC with 28 takeaways.
The Tide were ranked seventh nationally in interceptions with 17 and tenth in scoring defense, which was the program’s best finish since the 2017 season.
Prior to his year in Tuscaloosa, Hitschler spent six seasons on Luke Fickell’s staffs at Wisconsin in 2023 and Cincinnati from 2018-22. He was co-defensive coordinator for his lone season at Wisconsin and final year at Cincinnati while also serving as the Bearcats’ safeties coach from 2020-22.
During the 2023 season, the Badgers’ defense was ranked 20th in the country in scoring defense (20.2) and 25th in interceptions (13) and held eight of 13 opponents to 21 points or less.
Hitschler’s time with Cincinnati saw the Bearcats turn in a record of 53-10 over five seasons, which included at least nine victories in each year and three 11-win campaigns. Cincinnati went 33-5 in AAC games and they won two conference championships, made five consecutive bowl game appearances and finished the seasonn in the AP Top 25 four times. In 2021, Cincinnati was selected to play in the CFP for the first time after going 12-0 in the regular season and defeating Houston in the AAC title game. The Bearcats finished that season with a 13-1 record after losing to Alabama in the Cotton Bowl, which was one of the CFP Semifinal games that season.
Over Hitschler’s final three seasons, the Bearcats ranked in the top 25 nationally in both total defense and scoring defense every year and in the top 10 in 2020 and 2021. Hitschler coached four Cincinnati defensive backs to All-America status while five were drafted into the NFL.
Dean Kennedy, Offensive Coordinator
Kennedy comes to UCLA with 11 years of coaching experience, including nine at the NCAA Division I level. He has coached alongside Chesney in each of the past four seasons at Holy Cross (2022-23) and James Madison (2024-25), spending three of those years as his offensive coordinator.
Under the direction of Kennedy, James Madison’s 2025 offense was tops in the Sun Belt and ranked 11th in the FBS in scoring with 37.1 points per game in addition to ranking 17th nationally in total yardage with 452.6 yards per game. The Dukes scored north of 50 points five times with Kennedy calling plays this year, which was tied for second-most in a single season in school history. James Madison was also ranked in the top 10 in the country in first downs (fifth with 316), time of possession (second) and rushing offense (sixth with 241.5).
Kennedy’s 2025 offensive unit was highlighted by quarterback Alonza Barnett III, who was the Sun Belt Player of the Year, and running back Wayne Knight, who was a finalist for the Paul Hornung Award this season. Barnett recorded a total 38 touchdowns (23 passing, 15 rushing) and ranked fourth in the FBS with 232 total points scored. Knight, who was named to the Associated Press Second Team All-American, finished six games with more than 150 all-purpose yards and four 100-yard rushing performances. Seven of Kennedy’s offensive players received All-Sun Belt accolades, including three First Team honorees.
In his first season in 2024, Kennedy took over a JMU offense with only three returning starters and guided the Dukes to the nation’s 26th-ranked scoring offense with 33.3 points per game. Kennedy’s group was highly efficient with 191.5 rushing yards per game and 28 passing touchdowns while allowing the third-fewest turnovers in the FBS with nine. James Madison completed the 2024 season with the program’s first bowl championship victory, defeating Western Kentucky, 27-17, in the 2024 Boca Raton Bowl.
A native of Scituate, Mass., Kennedy served on Chesney’s staff for two seasons at Holy Cross in 2022-23, where he was quarterbacks coach for both campaigns and offensive coordinator for his second year.
During Kennedy’s time in Worcester, he helped Holy Cross to back-to-back Patriot League championships, a berth in the 2022 NCAA FCS Playoffs and a 19-5 overall record. The Crusaders ranked fourth in the FCS with 466.6 yards per game of total offense and seventh with 36.9 points per game in Kennedy’s first year as an NCAA Division I offensive coordinator in 2023.
Kennedy mentored two-time Walter Payton Award Finalist and 2023 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year Matthew Sluka. The dual-threat quarterback accounted for 2,481 rushing yards (95.4 per game) and 20 touchdowns on the ground and 4,217 passing yards (162.1 per game) and 46 scores through the air over his two seasons under Kennedy.
In Kennedy’s first year as quarterbacks coach in 2022, Holy Cross registered just its fifth-ever double-digit win total and set a single-season wins record with a 12-1 mark. An 11-0 regular season earned Holy Cross the No. 8 seed for the NCAA FCS Playoffs. The Crusaders defeated New Hampshire, 35-19, in the First Round to reach the Quarterfinals for the first time since 1983. Holy Cross finished the year with a No. 6 ranking among all FCS teams as a result of numerous marquee wins, including a Hail Mary victory against FBS foe Buffalo and an overtime win over nationally-ranked Fordham.
Prior to Holy Cross, Kennedy spent four seasons in the SEC at Florida from 2018-21. While finishing his stint in Gainesville as assistant quarterbacks coach, Kennedy also served as an offensive quality control coach, as well as a graduate assistant. In 2020, Kennedy aided in the development of quarterback Kyle Trask, who finished fourth in voting for the Heisman Trophy. Aside from coaching duties, Kennedy assisted the Gators with recruiting in Atlanta and southern Georgia.
Hitschler’s Coaching Experience
2009 – Training Camp Assistant, Philadelphia Eagles
2010 – Player Personnel Assistant, Kansas City Chiefs
2011 – Co-Special Teams Coordinator/Defensive Line, Salve Regina (NCAA DIII)
2012 – Special Teams Coordinator/Defensive Backs, Widener (NCAA DIII)
2013 – Graduate Assistant, Arkansas State
2014 – Graduate Assistant, South Alabama
2015-2016 – Outside Linebackers/Director of Operations, South Alabama
2017 – Safeties, South Alabama
2018 – Quality Control Coach, Cincinnati
2019 – Senior Defensive Analyst, Cincinnati
2020-2021 – Safeties, Cincinnati
2022 – Co-Defensive Coordinator/Safeties, Cincinnati
2023 – Co-Defensive Coordinator/Safeties, Wisconsin
2024 – Co-Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs, Alabama
2025 – Defensive Coordinator, James Madison
2026 – Defensive Coordinator, UCLA
Kennedy’s Coaching Experience
2015 – Quarterbacks, ASA College (NJCAA)
2016 – Offensive Coordinator, ASA College (NJCAA)
2017 – Offensive Graduate Assistant, Mississippi State
2018-2019 – Offensive Graduate Assistant, Florida
2020 – Offensive Quality Control Coach, Florida
2021 – Assistant Quarterbacks Coach, Florida
2022 – Quarterbacks, Holy Cross (FCS)
2023 – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks, Holy Cross (FCS)
2024-2025 – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks, James Madison
2026 – Offensive Coordinator, UCLA
let's hope for a winning season in 2026!