{"id":306987,"date":"2025-11-22T11:50:16","date_gmt":"2025-11-22T11:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/306987\/"},"modified":"2025-11-22T11:50:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T11:50:16","slug":"should-they-stay-or-go-ucla-greats-weigh-in-on-the-rose-bowl-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/306987\/","title":{"rendered":"Should they stay or go? UCLA greats weigh in on the Rose Bowl debate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Those who want to stay at the Rose Bowl<\/a> describe the place as iconic, an ode to everything that\u2019s great about college football. They say it oozes history and tradition. Just the sight of the glowing neon sign<\/a> is enough to give them goosebumps.<\/p>\n

Those who want to go call the place a dump. They say it\u2019s old and decaying by the day, a shell of its former greatness. Why hold on so hard when a futuristic stadium in Inglewood<\/a> could provide not only a home closer to campus but also an infusion of cash as part of a more favorable lease?<\/p>\n

Going into what could be UCLA<\/a>\u2019s last home game ever at its century-old stadium Saturday night, some with deep ties to the school say they understand each of the dueling perspectives in the debate over a possible move to SoFi Stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe concern is, are you gonna lose part of your identity, which has been in peril lately already?\u201d said Kris Farris<\/a>, a former All-America offensive tackle with the Bruins who was among the more than half-dozen former greats and current recruits who spoke with The Times about the situation. \u201cSo it\u2019s like you\u2019re taking away another special part of UCLA, but of course everyone understands the upside financially and what the program needs to do in the arms race of college football right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Officially, nothing has been decided. School officials have released two statements in recent weeks, both acknowledging the uncertainty of the situation. It\u2019s believed that if UCLA decided to make a move to SoFi Stadium, the Bruins would want to do so before the 2026 season.<\/p>\n

But the courts could have the final say. The Rose Bowl Operating Co. and the City of Pasadena have commenced a legal battle with hopes of forcing the team to stay. Having called the stadium home since moving in before the 1982 season under legendary coach Terry Donahue<\/a>, UCLA committed to a lease that doesn\u2019t expire until the summer of 2044.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just really feel if Terry was here, I think he\u2019d say, \u2018What\u2019s the hurry?\u2019 \u201d said Pat Donahue, one of the late coach\u2019s brothers. \u201cYou have a lease, why don\u2019t you underwrite what the issues are and if you feel you made a bad deal, go renegotiate. You know, I just don\u2019t know what the hurry is and it seems to me that UCLA has a lot bigger football problems than the Rose Bowl, right? I mean, the building\u2019s on fire and you wanna remodel the garden.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only one thing seems certain: UCLA will not play home games on campus, as so many have proposed over the years. A movement to build a football stadium on the spot now occupied by Drake Stadium died in 1965 amid opposition from students, political leaders and local homeowners. Not only did the University of California regents rebuff the stadium bid, they also decreed that no structure built on the Drake Stadium footprint could later be enlarged into a football stadium.<\/p>\n

Thus the current dilemma. Does UCLA keep its word and fulfill a Rose Bowl lease in which it loses millions of dollars annually in opportunity costs because it does not take in suite or sponsorship revenue? Or do the Bruins head to SoFi Stadium for a new beginning flush with cash, if not tradition?<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the long term, if you look at the UCLA program, SoFi makes a whole lot more sense whether you like it or not,\u201d said former Bruins quarterback Gary Beban<\/a>, who led the team to an upset of top-ranked Michigan State in the 1966 Rose Bowl and won the school\u2019s only Heisman Trophy in 1967.<\/p>\n

Beban played for UCLA teams that called the Coliseum home, long before the Bruins moved to the Rose Bowl. He said initially he wasn\u2019t a supporter of UCLA playing in Pasadena because of a 26.2-mile commute from campus, acknowledging the issue seemed to be largely offset by wild early success the team enjoyed while appearing in five Rose Bowl games between 1983 and 1999.<\/p>\n

With the Bruins stuck in a decadelong funk, making that long commute has become more burdensome, leading to dwindling attendance at a stadium that\u2019s roughly twice the distance from UCLA than SoFi Stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a convenience issue for the people at the campus and over a longer period of time,\u201d Beban said, \u201cI think eventually SoFi just makes more sense than the Rose Bowl. \u2026 Right now, this is being looked at at a time when the program needs a lot of fresh air. Regardless of how big of a supporter you are, there are a list of things that need to be advanced and this is just one of them. Maybe it\u2019s time to start all over in all directions and try to get going in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of Beban\u2019s teammates favors holding on more tightly to the past. Jim Colletto<\/a>, co-captain of the 1966 Rose Bowl champions, said standing on that field makes one feel like he\u2019s playing or coaching with the ghosts of legends.<\/p>\n

Before his return to the Rose Bowl as UCLA\u2019s offensive line coach in 2006, Colletto walked to the two-yard line, where former teammate Bob Stiles had made a goal-line stand 40 years earlier by stopping Michigan State fullback Bob Apisa on a potential tying two-point conversion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI closed my eyes,\u201d Colletto said, \u201cand it all came alive again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Which stadium do possible future UCLA players want to call home?<\/p>\n

Kenneth Moore III, a wide receiver from St. Mary\u2019s High in Stockton who has verbally committed to the Bruins, said he\u2019d prefer to play at SoFi Stadium. As far as he\u2019s concerned, the stadium that opened in 2020 is closer to campus and would create a better environment than the team has experienced at the Rose Bowl, where it\u2019s averaging only 37,099 fans<\/a> this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel it\u2019ll be more involvement from the fans after going to SoFi,\u201d Moore said, \u201cto have more packed-out stands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cooper Javorsky has remained a constant presence at the Rose Bowl even after decommitting from UCLA in the wake of coach DeShaun Foster\u2019s dismissal<\/a>. The offensive lineman from San Juan Hills High who is still considering the Bruins has developed an affinity for the place based on his many weekends spent on the sideline watching games.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019m really in a position to have an opinion,\u201d Javorsky said, \u201cbut who wouldn\u2019t think it\u2019s cool to run out at the Rose Bowl on a Saturday?\u201d<\/p>\n

One widespread lament is the possible loss of unfettered tailgating on a sprawling golf course and surrounding parking lots. Farris said throwing a football on the grass and cooking food in an open space was the part of the game-day experience that his kids looked forward to most when they were younger.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt SoFi, just having attended some professional games there, they just don\u2019t have the tailgating experience,\u201d Farris said. \u201cThe tailgating at the Rose Bowl is special, it\u2019s unique. You know, it\u2019s not a paved parking lot with a small little stall.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hearing that UCLA\u2019s game against Washington on Saturday could be the team\u2019s last one inside the stadium he once called home has motivated Farris to make the drive from Orange County. It could represent one final memory for someone who was part of the last Bruins team to play in a Rose Bowl game.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing like it,\u201d Farris said of the place. \u201cI\u2019ve played in a lot of different stadiums and obviously the backdrop and the size and scale of the Rose Bowl, the history of the Rose Bowl, the energy coming from the fans and just the history in that building and to be able to call it your home as a program and that\u2019s your home field and being able to dominate in that time like we were able to do as a team, I wouldn\u2019t trade that for the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nearly everyone who weighed in the stadium debate agreed that winning would solve many of UCLA\u2019s problems regardless of where it played, drawing more fans and revenue. But Dave Ball, a former Bruins All-America defensive end, said there was a caveat that should be attached to that sentiment.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, winning solves everything,\u201d Ball said, \u201cbut it\u2019s like to me, the resources are the thing, especially now, that are going to promote winning. It\u2019s like, man, you need to have the players and to have the players you need big budgets and an environment that is like swooning over the kids and Ohio State has that, Alabama has that, a lot of the SEC schools have that, and so a great coach who starts to get the program going will instill more excitement and more money, but you do need a lot of the budget and the resources to get that top-tier coach and those top-tier athletes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis thing is a game of moving onto the next and what matters to everybody is, do you win football games, championships, bowl games or not?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Those who want to stay at the Rose Bowl describe the place as iconic, an ode to everything…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306988,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[19859,11840,29603,399,159057,473,2976,159058,3591,398,396,397,14797,14861,3859,159055,140577,99,1599,159056],"class_list":["post-306987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-bruins","tag-campus","tag-fan","tag-football","tag-football-stadium","tag-history","tag-home","tag-kris-farris","tag-lot","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-part","tag-place","tag-program","tag-rose-bowl-debate","tag-sofi-stadium","tag-sports","tag-team","tag-ucla-great"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}