The UCLA Bruins needed all the help they could get to land Bob Chesney. That help went beyond the sport of football, with former Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers being part of the search committee alongside Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
Both Roberts and Myers are UCLA alumni who are interested in a more competitive Bruins football team. UCLA fired DeShaun Foster early in the season and had interim head coach Tim Skipper coach the team for the majority of the season.
UCLA’s hiring of Chesney was universally applauded. Chesney is a rising coach that has found success in each of his many stops, most recently with the James Madison Dukes, who he led to the College Football Playoffs.
Roberts is fresh off his second-straight World Series title with the Dodgers, leading perhaps the most talented roster in the history of baseball. Before the Dodgers closed out the season with a championship over the Toronto Blue Jays, Roberts got to work for the Bruins. USA TODAY’s Jordan Mendoza has more details.
“While being part of the search committee was all pro bono work, Roberts joined in during the most critical part of his team’s schedule. UCLA announced the committee was formed on Sept. 25, just as the MLB regular season was wrapping up. The Dodgers were the No. 3 seed in the National League and had to play in the wild card round, where their postseason run began. They went on to win the World Series over the Toronto Blue Jays in a thrilling seven-game series that concluded on Nov. 1,” Mendoza wrote. “Before playing professional baseball and becoming a manager, Roberts played for the UCLA baseball team, where he set the school’s all-time stolen base record.”
Roberts has helped guide the Dodgers to some titles, now he hopes Chesney can do the same for the Bruins.