UCLA Football Prepares for Thanksgiving With Hot Dishes, Cold Takes, Team Bonding
Every November, the college football world gets taken by storm when a coach comes out firing some unpopular opinions on Thanksgiving favorites.
Chip Kelly is not going to be that coach.
"Whatever’s served," Kelly said, when asked what his favorite holiday dish was. "I’m not a cook, so I don’t get to dictate the menu."
UCLA football (7-4, 5-3 Pac-12) will have a team dinner at the Luskin Conference Center on campus Wednesday night, a precursor to whatever everyone has going on for Thanksgiving Day on Thursday. Cornerback Obi Eboh was in the same camp as Kelly when it came to playing it safe, claiming his favorites were turkey, cranberry sauce, apple pie and candied yams.
"No hot takes over here, man, I'm pretty basic when it comes to all that stuff," Eboh said. "Just as long as I got a ton of food and stuffing and all that type of stuff."
Just because a handful of Bruins kept things on the basic side in press conferences doesn't mean they hadn't been fishing for each other's divisive food opinions, though.
"The biggest question going around our locker room and our training room was either if you're a ham or turkey guy," said center Duke Clemens. "I would say I'm a ham guy, sorry to the turkey."
Clemens argued in favor of ham because it's the more versatile meat, he said, and can be fried for breakfast, used in sandwiches or served for fancy family-style dinners around the holidays. The offensive lineman also has a few other Thanksgiving favorites that wouldn't pop up on too many of his teammates' lists.
Hailing from Hawaii, Clemens said his family would always have the traditional Thanksgiving staples on their dinner table, supplemented by some Hawaiian favorites – poke, kalua pig and rice, which Clemens says he just has to have.
Clemens' parents are back in Hawaii, so he said he's going to have dinner with his sister, who lives nearby.
Not every player on the team has family in the Los Angeles area, however, meaning some will flock to their teammates' homes or go to a dinner hosted by the team.
Eboh and running back Ethan Fernea are among those who will be sticking in Westwood, heading over to defensive lineman Otito Ogbonnia's apartment. Ogbonnia has a reputation of being the team's top chef, and this isn't the first time he's hosted his teammates for Thanksgiving.
"I spent Thanksgiving at Otito’s apartment last year and he’s an unbelievable cook – probably the best Thanksgiving meal I’ve ever had, to be honest," Fernea said. "If you ever get a chance to have Otito cook you a meal, I highly recommend."
Fernea said Ogbonnia made mac and cheese in 2020 that was "out of this world," while a recent Los Angeles Times story highlighted his other recipes, from cornbread and strawberry cheesecake to stuffing, ribs, bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin and even roasted duck. Fernea said there were roughly 30 players who showed up to Ogbonnia and offensive lineman Jon Gaines II's apartment for past Thanksgivings, and that he was looking forward to seeing what ends up on the menu this fall.
And perhaps after they devour the dishes that come sliding across the dinner table Thursday, the Bruins can feast on the visiting Golden Bears on Saturday.
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