James Madison’s most recent head football coach, Bob Chesney, left JMU to become the head coach at UCLA on a five‑year deal, departing Harrisonburg for Los Angeles after the Dukes’ postseason run.

Where the JMU coach went

  • Bob Chesney agreed to take the UCLA head coaching job, moving from leading JMU in the Sun Belt to a Power Four program in the Big Ten–bound Bruins.
  • Reports note that the deal is for five years and that he would finish out JMU’s season (Sun Belt title/CFP run) before fully transitioning to UCLA.

What’s happening at JMU now

  • With Chesney headed to UCLA, JMU turned to former Florida and Louisiana coach Billy Napier as its new head coach, bringing him back into the Sun Belt.
  • Napier is reported to be taking over a program that has been nationally ranked and competing for conference titles, so expectations in Harrisonburg remain very high.

In fan and forum discussions, the move is framed as another example of a successful JMU coach “moving up” to a bigger brand, while JMU continues to reload with a high‑profile hire like Napier.

TL;DR: The JMU football coach (Bob Chesney) went to UCLA as its new head coach, and JMU hired Billy Napier to replace him.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.