Femi Oladejo addresses his potential role at UCLA in 2023

Femi Oladejo is ready to contribute wherever UCLA needs him in 2023. The linebacker transferred to the Bruins this offseason after spending the first two seasons of his college career playing for Cal.

One of 13 transfers to join the Bruins, he is still figuring out where he fits in on the depth chart after going through spring practice. But whether he earns reps on defense, special teams or both, he brings a willingness to do what the coaching staff asks heading into next season.

“Coming in a contributing to the team,” Oladejo said of his potential role. “Just being a ball player and helping the team win in any way. Special teams or whatever it is.”

A former three-star recruit in the 2020 class, Oladejo ranks as the No. 15 linebacker according to On3’s Transfer Portal Player Rankings. He is one of two transfer linebackers the Bruins brought in along with former Penn linebacker Jake Heimlicher.

For the Golden Bears this season, the 6-foot-3, 255-pound Oladejo had 91 tackles, including a sack, with 4.5 tackles for loss. He also scooped up a fumble versus Notre Dame early in the year and forced another versus Stanford. Versus Oregon, Oladejo intercepted a pass with a return of 26 yards.

That is the kind of production Oladejo will hope to add to the UCLA defense this season. He’ll have plenty of competition for reps as the Bruins return leading tackler Darius Muasau as well as starter JonJon Vaughns.

But whether or not he cracks the starting lineup, Oladejo is ready to show his value to the Bruins and they look to build upon a 9-4 record from this past season.

Chip Kelly praises work ethic of Femi Oladejo

UCLA coach Chip Kelly has taken notice of Oladejo’s team-player mentality. With spring practice having wrapped up, Kelly had high praise for the transfer’s work ethic.

“Yeah, Femi’s been tremendous since we’ve been here. He’s got a great work ethic. He loves studying film,” Kelly said. “It always seems like he’s in our building doing something to make himself a better football player. So, his mindset has really fit in very well with that whole group.”

Not only does Odalejo work hard, but he also brings the size and athleticism needed to succeed according to Kelly. Those things combined should make the Bruins fans glad they added him once the season kicks off.

“He’s obviously got some physical qualities that we really like,” Kelly continued. “He’s tall, (and) 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.”