This post was updated Feb. 3 at 9:23 p.m.

The four Cs.

Competence. Connection. Chemistry. Character.

These are traits that people covet.

But for Bob Chesney, they are the pillars that the first-year UCLA football coach wants to build his team on.

When building his Bruin coaching staff, Chesney sought people who embodied the four qualities he felt imperative to establishing a culture built on accountability and upholding the standard.

Chesney’s first pillar is competence, ensuring his staff is proficient in the Xs and Os.

“The first thing for building any great staff is competence – are they good at what they do? That’s the first question,” Chesney said at the James West Alumni Center Saturday morning. “Are they good at what they do? Are they good at their jobs? Are they good at the scheme of their jobs, the technique, the fundamentals, the situational awareness and all the things that come with it? That’s where it starts.”

Chesney then moves to connection.

The new UCLA head honcho is adamant about coaching the whole football player, not just focusing on an athlete’s on-the-field skills, but building people of high character who will succeed beyond the gridiron.

Part of cultivating that team identity manifests itself by ensuring the coaching staff is full of communicators who share the same core belief of being more than just a football coach, but also a role model.

“It moves over to the connection. Are they able to connect with the players? Are they able to connect with other members of the community? Are they good communicators?” Chesney said. “Are their doors open, so that our players feel like they have an ally, more than just a football coach?

Competence and connection breed chemistry.

For a team to establish culture, it cannot only rely on individuals. The whole squad must band together and adopt the same goal.

And for Chesney – who has little connection or history with Southern California and the West Coast – hiring a staff that not only possesses the same core beliefs but also brings diverse perspectives may create a more cohesive unit.

“The third one is chemistry, making sure we all work together. We have a similar mindset. We work and believe the same thing, so our alignment is strong, but chemistry doesn’t come free,” Chesney said. “Chemistry doesn’t mean everybody’s the same. The thing about chemistry is that there’s got to be a lot of diversity in there as well.”

Chesney rounded out his foundational values with character.

The Bruin head coach wants more than good football players. He wants good people.

And Chesney illustrated how he wants his family to perceive his squad, reflecting the quality he seeks in his players.

“Then the final thing is making sure that they’re of high character, and I say this all the time in recruiting, and it’s important that I want my kids to run around Wasserman football building,” Chesney said. “I don’t want to care where they are, but I want to know that they’re with good people. I think that’s one of the most important things in this.”

A coaching staff sets the expectation and the standard.

Emulating former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, Chesney reiterated his famous motto: “The standard is the standard.”

If the coaches fit the mold that Chesney is trying to build, then his players will follow suit. The Bruin coach expects excellence – something he wants his staff and his roster to reflect – but it is also something he already sees at UCLA.

“And then we go into looking at players, it becomes that same mentality. Are they similar in their beliefs?” Chesney said. “Do they want to be great at everything, because this is not a place that you choose to come to if you wish to be average. I don’t think anybody in this room came to UCLA, left here, went into your working world, and said, my goal is to be average. I don’t think that’s anybody’s goal. Your goal is to be the best.”

Chesney’s ability to create a culture of setting and meeting the standard of excellence is in the practice of not assuming anything, a trait he admired in former UCLA men’s basketball coach John Wooden – who won 10 national championships across 12 seasons in Westwood.

The new football coach doesn’t assume anything about his players, whether that is embracing coaching, keeping a locker clean, picking up weights or even taking notes.

“Once the standards are set, then the living of those standards becomes a whole lot easier,” Chesney said. “When the standards are never set, then you have a lot of people thinking a lot of different things, in a lot of different ways. When that pressure hits, it kind of starts to fall apart. But when the standard is the standard, and everybody understands what it is, it’s clear, concise and compelling.”

Established standards breed accountability.

And when the team comes together with the same core beliefs and the same goal in mind, holding one another accountable should be expected.

It can’t just be the sole person at the top who is bought in. It has to be everyone surrounding him.

“If I care about the team and I care about you, I’ll make sure that I hold you to that standard, and your response to that should be, ‘Thank you,’ not, ‘Man, why you tell me that?’ (You should say) ‘Thank you. I’m sorry. I fell out of line there. I’m back. We’re good,’” Chesney said. “And that, to me, is what the best teams have. The standard’s clear. Their alignment is strong, and they hold each other accountable in front of coaches and behind coaches. Not just when the coach is in front of the room. And that’s a difference between a player-led team and a coach-led team.”

Chesney is confident that he has assembled the staff necessary to build the culture he wants to cultivate in Westwood.

And he showed that Saturday afternoon at Pauley Pavilion during UCLA men’s basketball contest against Indiana.

“This is the team of the future,” Chesney said. “We are about to win a Big Ten championship.”