Chesney's Dad Joins Practice, Team Shines

0:00It's April 22nd. This is California News Today. Local news powered by AI. UCLA football coach Bob Chesney got a big boost at Tuesday's practice when his dad, Bob Senior, showed up at Spalding Field. The elder Chesney coached his son in high school back in Pennsylvania and has followed him to every coaching stop, including now at Westwood. Both parents flew in yesterday and the coach called it pretty cool to have his old man back on the field. Many credits his dad was shaping his approach, focusing more on matchups and player feel than just complex schemes. In the old days, it was about who had the bigger, faster guys, and that perspective mixes well with today's younger coaches obsessed with X's and O's. Practice ramped up the intensity after a so-so scrimmage last Saturday, with both offense and defense making big plays in drizzly conditions. Chesney praised the physicality, solid protection against exotic defenses, and quarterbacks handling blitzes smartly, even if a couple sacks slipped through.

1:03Standout was why receiver Brian Rowe, the sophomore transfer from South Carolina, who snagged a one-handed catch and runs precise routes with, explosion. Others shown too, my grinning bag JV and Thomas on a nice run, linebacker Sammy Omasio for consistency, and Tideon Noah Fox Flores looking way, stronger in the run game. Tide receiver Leland Smith sat out team drills with nagging upper body stuff, but should recover. Linebacker Scott Taylor adapted well to new defensive looks, confusing protections, pre-snap. With continuity building across the board, Chesney seized the team's sharpening up daily as they pushed toward a sharper fall campaign.