Femi Oladejo explains 'easy' decision to transfer from Cal to UCLA

When linebacker Femi Oladejo was decided where he wanted to transfer to after two years with California, he went with a place fairly similar to his old school in UCLA. Both schools in the University of California system with high academic standards in two of the biggest metropolitan areas of the country, albeit UCLA is in a major city in Los Angeles.

The transition has gone smoothly, Oladejo said.

“Definitely similar but everything is great,” Oladejo said after a recent spring practice. “No complaints at all. Very grateful. I think I was able to adapt very well.”

Oladejo was one of the better players on the Golden Bears last season. In California’s final game of the season against his future team, Oladejo finished the game with a season-high 17 total tackles. He finished the year with 91 tackles.

He committed to UCLA out of the transfer portal just hours after officially entering.

“Just good opportunities, still a great school, great program so easy decision to come here,” Oladejo said.

UCLA linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr. was also another reason Oladejo gave for transferring to the Bruins.

“Great coach, for sure,” Oladejo said. “He’s gotten me a lot better so I’m grateful.”

The Bruins have landed 13 players in the NCAA Transfer Portal while only losing 11 players to the portal. They rank third in On3’s Transfer Portal Rankings behind two other Pac-12 foes in USC and Colorado.

Other players they landed in the portal include Oladejo’s old teammate at California J.Michael Sturdivant, former USC wide receiver Kyle Ford and former Oregon defensive lineman Keanu Williams.

Femi Oladejo has impressed Chip Kelly since he arrived at UCLA

Count UCLA head coach Chip Kelly among those impressed with new linebacker Femi Oladejo since he arrived with the Bruins out of the NCAA Transfer Portal.

Kelly said the former California star has been “tremendous” since joining the team and always is working on improving his skills.

“He’s obviously got some physical qualities that we really like,” Kelly said. “He’s tall, he’s long, covers a lot of space in a short amount of time; he’s got really good movement skills for a guy that big, can get into a lot of passing lanes and disrupt some things because of his length. But I really just think it’s his work ethic and his mindset that have been really, really impressive so far since he got here in January.”