Chesney leaves Holy Cross to take James Madison job

Bob Chesney’s steady climb through the college football ranks will reach another rung with the Holy Cross coach being named to the same job at James Madison.

Chesney will replace Curt Cignetti, who led the Dukes through a seamless transition into FBS with an 8-3 season in 2022 and an 11-1 season, a Top 25 ranking, and an appearance in the Armed Forces Bowl in 2023.

Cignetti resigned last week to take the job at Indiana ahead of his team’s unexpected bowl game berth. The Dukes were initially ineligible for postseason play after their transition to FBS, but they were granted a reprieve without enough bowl-eligible teams to fill the schedule.

Chesney just wrapped up his sixth season in Worcester, having turned the Crusaders into an FCS powerhouse. Holy Cross hadn’t reached the postseason in a decade before Chesney arrived on campus. He led the program to five straight Patriot League titles and four consecutive NCAA Tournament trips from 2019-23.

Chesney’s tenure at Holy Cross hit its peak with back-toback 6-0 seasons in the Patriot League in 2021-22. The Crusaders finished 2022 as the sixthranked team in FCS and reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1983, falling to eventual champion North Dakota State.

Chesney, 46, wraps up his Holy Cross tenure with a 44-21 record — and a 28-4 mark in Patriot League play.

The Crusaders (7-4) missed out on the postseason in 2023 for the first time since 2018 despite sharing the league title with Lafayette. Holy Cross lost the head-to-head matchup at home, 38-35, on Oct. 21, which gave Lafayette the tiebreaker and automatic NCAA bid.