UCLA football adds 2 more James Madison players via transfer portal
New UCLA football coach Bob Chesney has kept the transfer portal rolling in his favor.
The Bruins added two James Madison-to-UCLA commitments on Tuesday, with tight end Josh Phifer and defensive back DJ Barksdale announcing via social media their intentions to come to Westwood. Chesney has now brought in nine transfers, five of whom are coming with him from the Dukes.
Phifer kicked off Tuesday when he told the Southern California News Group that he would be following head coach Bob Chesney and special teams coordinator/tight ends coach Drew Canan to Westwood. The 6-foot-5, 258-pound redshirt sophomore from Georgia played sporadically across 12 games for the Dukes, with four catches for 40 yards and a touchdown. He’s a former three-star prospect with two seasons of eligibility remaining.
“I’m excited to get to work and make UCLA a winning program again,” Phifer wrote in a statement to SCNG.
Barksdale was a third-team All-Sun Belt Conference selection while primarily playing the nickel cornerback spot at James Madison, tallying 36 tackles, 12 pass breakups and two interceptions in 2025.
The 5-9 Barksdale is on the shorter side of the secondary players the Bruins will bring in – if not the smallest – but he has familiarity in defensive coordinator Colin Hitschler’s scheme and worked under defensive backs coach Eddie Whitley Jr. while at James Madison. Across three seasons at James Madison, the South Carolina native recorded full totals of 93 tackles, 14 pass deflections and four interceptions.
Outside of returning Cole Martin and Rodrick Pleasant to the secondary group for the season ahead, Chesney has seemingly prioritized defensive back recruiting, adding Virginia Tech transfer Dante Lovett and Iowa State transfer Ta’Shawn James on Monday.
On a sour note for the Bruins’ recruiting efforts, however, the fifth-ranked tight end in the transfer portal reportedly chose an old foe as his next program. New Mexico’s Dorian Thomas, who visited Cal on Friday and UCLA on Saturday, according to reports, selected the Golden Bears on Tuesday evening.
UCLA added Phifer on Tuesday, but likely will need to scour the nation for its next receiving tight end to replace Hudson Habermehl.
Special Teams turnaround
Long snapper Salem Abdul-Wahab and kicker Mateen Bhaghani – who both entered the transfer portal last week – appear to be returning to UCLA to play under Chesney and Canan.
While Abdul-Wahab announced his return on Instagram Stories on Tuesday morning, while multiple reports emerged Tuesday that Bhaghani will return as the Bruins’ placekicker in 2026. Bhaghani had not returned a request for comment from SCNG as of Tuesday evening.
Bhaghani, who converted 16 of 20 field goal attempts during his junior season, reportedly took a visit to Arizona State before opting to stay put in blue and gold.
Support staff additions
Chesney announced the additions of Jordan Smith as executive director of football operations, Matt Transue as chief of staff and Richard Rodgers as special assistant to the head coach to his UCLA coaching staff.
All three hires served under Chesney at James Madison.
“A strong support staff is the ‘glue’ that holds a modern-day college football program together,” Chesney said via release. “Jordan, Matt and Richard will be tremendous assets to our leadership structure as we navigate the logistics and details necessary to playing championship-caliber football.”
Smith served as Chesney’s director of operations each of the last four seasons, two at James Madison and two at Holy Cross. Transue arrived after a one-season stint as the Dukes’ assistant athletic director of football administration after having been at James Madison since 2022.
Rodgers was an NFL assistant for 12 years among a 36-year coaching career primarily in the collegiate ranks.