'Burn the Boats': UCLA Coach's Fiery Pre-Oregon Speech Was Pure Hollywood

Bob Chesney's viral 'Burn the Boats' tunnel speech fired up UCLA football before the Bruins controlled time of possession to beat Oregon at Autzen Stadium.

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It's official – UCLA head coach Bob Chesney is straight out of Hollywood's main cast and ready to be a bonafide star in college football.

On Saturday, before the Bruins faced Oregon in Eugene, Chesney asked his team to kneel in the Utzen Stadium tunnel for a final message. With his undefeated Bruins listening intently, Chesney transformed into Tony D'Amato (Al Pacino) in Any Given Sunday. In the 1999 film, D'Amato reminded his players, "Gentlemen, we're in hell right now. Believe me. And we can stay here, get the s—t kicked out of us, or we can make our way back to the light. We can climb out of hell...one inch at a time."

Chesney gave a similar speech to his sons.

The 49-year-old Hollywood newcomer cast Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés after he landed in Mexico in 1519 with 600 soldiers.

"They want to come in and start a war, and he wants to make sure nobody thinks otherwise," Chesney told Browns. He looks around at the boats they have to go home on and says, burn the f-king boats.

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"There's no way out. We can't go that way (Chesney points to the sunlight outside Utzen Stadium).

The Bruins get up, throw something, and Chesney turns toward the tunnel. Like Tom Cruise about to shoot down several Su-57 stealth fighters, Chesney grabs his sunglasses, locks them in place, looks like he's playing a practice Apple iWatch, and charges down the ramp into battle.

Chesney isn't the first inspirational speaker to use the "burn the boats" speech, but in the modern Internet age, he's the first to do it with such cinematic flair. The hair is perfect. The all-black shoes, pants and shirt, and then the black sunglasses represent something none of us can remember from UCLA—toughness.

After his speech on the rafts, the Bruins went out and dominated time of possession - 39:15 to 20:45 - and beat Oregon 17-15. It was the first time they beat Oregon on the road since 2004.

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Was it a beautiful win? not at all Chesney was the first to return to Los Angeles before his team boarded a plane instead of a boat. Remember, they burned the boats.

"So, if you're going to ask about complacency, you don't have to, because obviously there's enough on that film that if we're going to win this next game and every next game, we're going to have to do a lot better. We can't change that. We can't block the field goal," Chesney told the media. We can't do a lot of the things we did, let the ball down at the one-yard line, and all the other things that showed in that game. There were moments where it really could have gone the other way, but I was really proud of the effort. Really, really proud of how hard they played.

"I'm really, really proud of them for being able to adjust in a hostile environment like that. It's not an easy place to play, but I thought they did a really good job, and I'm proud of that effort."

There is bad news for the Bruins. Full-back Niko Iamaliwa looks set to be out for the season with a knee injury he picked up on Saturday.

Where is Chesney going with the speeches here? Will he channel Band of Brothers? Stay with us. We're going to see some of this man's best work with a dream season.

Joe Kinsey is OutKick's Chief Content Officer.

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