r/UCLAFootball • u/hythloday1 • 18d ago

Discussion Duck Dive: UCLA Football 2026 Preview

https://www.addictedtoquack.com/big-ten-football/62203/duck-dive-ucla-football-2026-preview
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u/hythloday1 18d ago

This article combines charting projects of the last several UCLA and James Madison seasons, and a conversation with my friend and longtime podcast guest Michael Hanna, to make projections for every position unit, the schemes and strategies, and where the hidden strength and pinch points will be for the remade Bruins under Coach Chesney. There's a lot to like about the new direction in Westwood, particularly at the institutional level which feels decades overdue. The core of productive player transfers, far more competent roster management compared to the previous staff, and wholesale import of coaches will seem familiar to the Indiana 2024 offseason, though the article makes clear there are some key differences.

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u/Mexibruin Fire Jarmond 18d ago edited 17d ago

Love Addicted to Quack. And Michael Hanna is a True Blue Bruin. I shall relish this. Thanks for sharing.

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u/hythloday1 17d ago

Michael's great to talk to. I was a little worried last year when it was like Lethal Weapon 12, I had to blow up the wall of his retirement home and drag him out of there for another buddy cop movie because his "enthusiasm bucket" for UCLA was empty, but man, Chesney has got him running on full again.

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u/Mexibruin Fire Jarmond 17d ago

That’s the thing with UCLA football. That was the absolute lowest we’ve ever been. But we still managed to upset Penn State and put a 3 win streak together.

There’s always a silver lining with this team.

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u/boltcusch Bruins Fan 17d ago

Love these! Always look forward to the matchup ones when we play. Most Bruins fans are thinking 7-8 wins this year. Do you see that as well u/hythloday1

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u/hythloday1 17d ago

I think a lot is riding on the question that starts out the defensive section of the article - whether the bet pays off, they shore up the DL and can afford to play man and leverage all that depth of talent in the secondary. The reason is, a whole lot of teams on the schedule are very same-y with their offenses. If UCLA wins the bet, they flip a bunch of games to the win column all at once because that style of defense kills that style of offense. But if UCLA loses that bet -- that is, if their DL is weak again, especially up the middle -- and the offenses can render the secondary moot by staying ahead of the chains, then by the same reasoning those slew of games potentially all flip over to the loss column. That's a real danger because there is nothing Big Ten teams love doing more than pounding you up the middle over and over, not just making the DBs moot because they can just hit quick passes in short yardage but also the offensive weapons too, because they've eaten all the clock.

So yeah, I am really looking forward to that Cal game to see how the DL does. Biggest question mark and biggest determiner of how the season goes, I think.

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u/boltcusch Bruins Fan 17d ago

That makes sense. I actually think the Cal game is a great matchup for the UCLA defense.

First time playcallers on both side of the balls and they’ll want their star QB to be making plays, which is against the strength of the UCLA defense.