We keep hearing fans comparing Chesney to Cignetti and hoping he might produce similar results at UCLA. But there is no comparison. About the only thing they have in common is that both coached at JMU. Cignetti's career path is much different than Chesney's and contributed greatly to his success at Indiana.
Amount of Experience: Cignetti had 40 years coaching college football. Chesney has 20.
Level of experience: Cignetti has 18 years of experience coaching at several FBS schools including power conference members Pitt, NC State and Alabama (under Nick Saban). Chesney has eight seasons at Division II and III schools (no football scholarships), six seasons at Holy Cross, a Division I (FCS) school and only two seasons at JMU, an FBS Group of Five school. You've heard Bill Walton call the Pac-12 "Conference of Champions". The Patriot League is the "Conference of Cupcakes", with the other schools winning only 29% of their non-conference games while Chesney was there.
Coaching quarterbacks: Cignetti was QB coach at all his stops until Alabama where he was WR coach. At NC State he coached quarterback Philip Rivers, who earned ACC Player of the Year honors. This season he brought in Fernando Mendoza, a good QB at Cal and turned him into a top Heisman contender. Chesney has been a more run oriented coach at his stops.
Recruiting: Cignetti served as recruiting coordinator at NC State and Alabama, bringing such players as Russell Wilson, Julio Jones, Donta Hightower and Mark Ingram to those schools as well as six future first-round NFL draft selections in the 2008 class. Chesney hasn't recruited or coached any players ever drafted.
Playoffs: At James Madison, Cignetti had a 7-3 FCS playoff record and lost to the eventual champions in close games all three seasons in the semis or final. At Holy Cross, Chesney made the quarter-finals once, lost in the 2nd round twice, lost in the first round once and failed to make the playoffs once.
Progam building: Cignetti brought 30 transfers to Indiana, 13 from JMU (not 20 or more as some claim), many who became impact Big-10 players. But he also brought in a number of them from power conferences, too. Kurtis Rourke from Ohio U. who was MAC MVP was brought in to play QB. Can Chesney bring that quality of players with him?
Now this doesn't mean Chesney isn't a fine coach and won't succeed at UCLA. All it means is that one shouldn't expect him to perform the miracles Cignetti did at Indiana turning a historical doormat into a national contender or anything close to that based on what the two brought to their new positions. Let's be realistic. Stop the Cignetti references.