After a run to the College Football Playoff at James Madison, Bob Chesney's focus is now on rebuilding the UCLA Bruins. While Chesney is taking a step up, jumping from the Sun Belt to a historic program, he goes from a program that was set up to win and is at the top of its conference to UCLA, who's struggled to find its footing in the Big Ten.
Heading into this season, UCLA made a massive move, becoming the benefactor of Tennessee and Nico Iamaleava breaking up. The hope was that after Nico Iamaleava got his first season of playing time at Tennessee, he'd be able to take a leap playing for UCLA, but the team wasn't set up well enough for him to succeed.
Iamaleava completed 64.4% of his passes, which was a career high, but he threw for less yardage and touchdowns with 1,928 yards and 13 scores. Where Iamaleava did progress was with using his legs as he rushed for 505 yards and 4 touchdowns, which was the best source of offense for the team at times.
Nico Iamaleava's decision to stay gives UCLA a chance in 2026
Part of what made Nico Iamaleava's decision to leave Tennessee so interesting was the fact that he could've declared for the NFL Draft if he had a solid season this year. Earlier this week, Nico Iamaleava announced he'd be back at UCLA for the 2026 season,
QB Nico Iamaleava has re-signed with UCLA, per @On3Sports.
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) December 23, 2025
The Bruins finished 3-9 in Iamaleava's first year after transferring from Tennessee. pic.twitter.com/FHXR6pL9e6
The decision to return to UCLA doesn't come as a massive surprise as Iamaleava certainly couldn't have declared for the NFL Draft. Where things could've become interesting is if Iamaleava entered the Transfer Portal as it would've added another unique quarterback to a loaded class of Transfer QBs.
Saturday Blitz transfer portal rankings 2026: QB, WR, RB
For Bob Chesney, getting Nico Iamaleava back for next season makes rebuilding this roster far easier. The Bruins could've needed a quarterback, but now the top priority is addressing other positions of need when the Transfer Portal is open. Finding a great quarterback especially in this market is going to be hard so keeping continuity was key.
Nico Iamaleava is now in a place where he needs to put together a solid season for his own sake. Everyone bashed the decision for Iamaleava to leave Tennessee, but if he can grow in this offense, he'll end up in the NFL as everyone expected when he was recruited out of high school.