Bob Chesney gets his man.
In a major win for UCLA football, the Bruins have received a transfer commitment from former James Madison linebacker Trent Hendrick, the reigning Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year, multiple sourced told Bruin247.
Hendrick exhausted his collegiate eligibility last season, but sued to get a fifth year after the NCAA instituted its new five-year rule for all current and future athletes. Hendrick was awarded the fifth year by a Louisiana court last Wednesday. The court order allowed the linebacker to go into the transfer portal even though it’s not currently open for athletes, which is how he wound up at UCLA. Hendrick will be immediately eligible with the Bruins despite participating in NFL minicamps in the spring. It’s possible he sees the field in the team’s season opener at Cal on Sept. 5.
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Hendrick was highly coveted in the transfer portal with a number of high profile schools interested in his services. Ultimately, his recruitment came down to UCLA, Cal and Virginia Tech. Initially, the Bruins’ financial offer to Hendrick was lower than the deals from other schools, according to a source. But UCLA managed to get to a competitive number, which sealed the deal. Hendrick wanted to reunite with Chesney and co., but his camp understandably didn’t want to leave too much money on the table to make that happen.
Beating out Cal, who made a substantial offer to Hendrick, according to a source, adds even more intrigue to the Week 1 clash between the Bruins and Golden Bears. With both programs in Year 1 of rebuilds, UCLA and Cal battled for multiple transfers and high school recruits all offseason. That recruiting rivalry should spill onto the field in Berkeley, especially considering the two programs are set to meet three more times over the next four years.
Hendrick made 106 tackles with three sacks, three pass breakups and two forced fumbles last season at JMU. He played 801 defensive snaps for the Dukes in 2026, and earned remarkable grades across the board from Pro Football Focus. The 6-foot, 234-pound ‘backer was credited with an 85.5 overall grade for defense, an 87.1 run-defense grade, an 85.8 pass-rush grade, an 82.1 tackling grade and a 75.2 coverage grade by PFF. Hendricks’ overall defensive grade and run-defense grade both led JMU last season. Hendrick only missed seven tackles all season, and he led the Dukes with 38 defensive stops, which are plays that constitute a failure for the opposing offense.
Hendrick was JMU’s MIKE linebacker last season. Sammy Omosigho has taken over that role in Colin Hitschler’s defense at UCLA, but the expectation is that Omosigho and Hendrick will end up playing a lot together. In theory, Hendrick’s addition will likely limit Jalen Woods and Donavyn Pellot’s snaps this season. But that remains to be seen of course.
Hendrick projects as an instant impact player who will make the Bruins’ defense better. This is a significant addition.
