In Reply to: Why would Chesney be dickish to him? Nico was the starter posted by azbruin on October 30, 2026 at 10:58:02
He'd be losing it because he's not the best QB on the team. That is the best message you can send to your team. The way he was playing at Oregon, I'm not sure he wouldn't have been benched in that game anyway. He was ridiculously bad.
I don't think he should be told he's the starter, nor be told he's the backup*. He should just be told that he will get a chance to win the starting job, like everyone else.
*Unless Ty leads us to 11+ wins (and continues to develop), in which case I think you tell Nico he's the backup.
Everything we've seen from Chesney shows that he is positive and does what's best for the team. I wouldn't expect him to handle this situation any differently.
I will say I did not like the timing for Nico's announcement, nor that it was done through his agent. I understand everyone needs to do what's best for them, but in this moment it has to be all about the team. He has plenty of time to decide if he's coming back and more private ways to let the staff know than to have his agent tell some national CFB writer.
This is not Iamaleava University and getting the kids to the NFL is not the primary mission of UCLA football. We're seeing some signs of entitledness here, like when Madden threw a tantrum on the sideline at Oregon.