Should UCLA Have Your Attention?

About this episode

The episode discusses UCLA's surprising recruiting success and the impact of Bob Chesney's leadership on the program's future.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.com SUBSCRIBER EPISODE: Alex and Richard start with the surprise of UCLA becoming one of the offseason’s best recruiting stories, then Alex brings on Ira Gorawara from The Athletic for a campus-level look at Bob Chesney’s first few months in Westwood. This subscriber episode is about whether UCLA’s current burst of money, attention, and salesmanship is the first sign that a program long trapped between Los Angeles indifference and its own underinvestment might finally be changing its shape. In this episode: * 0:00: Richard and Alex set up UCLA’s recruiting surge, the money behind it, and why Los Angeles is a hard place to matter unless you are winning or selling. * 10:49: Ira Gorawara joins to explain why Bob Chesney’s arrival has given the program a different feel than it had under recent coaches * 17:02: Chesney’s contrast with Chip Kelly and DeShaun Foster * 22:45: Whether UCLA’s donor alignment and roster spending are real enough to change the program’s ceiling. * 29:17: How durable the Bruins’ recruiting bump might be, and what counts as success over the long term * 34:29: The Rose Bowl vs. SoFi…

People in this episode

Hosts: Alex Kirshner, Richard Johnson

Guest: Ira Gorawara

Topics covered

• UCLA recruiting
• college football
• Bob Chesney
• program development
• Los Angeles sports
• donor alignment

Keywords

• UCLA
• recruiting
• Bob Chesney
• college football
• Los Angeles
• donor alignment
• Rose Bowl
• SoFi Stadium

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Athletic, UCLA, Bob Chesney, Chip Kelly, DeShaun Foster

Places: Los Angeles, Rose Bowl, SoFi Stadium

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