As he manned a steaming grill topped with diced carne asada and chicken, Andre Hannie contemplated his return to some of the most hallowed ground in college football.
“I’m back home,” Hannie said Saturday afternoon in Lot H of the Rose Bowl. “This is the only place to be, the best tailgate in the world.”
UCLA’s home opener was also a reunion of sorts for Bruins fans and their beloved stadium.
After months of pondering a move to SoFi Stadium for 2026, UCLA committed earlier this year to playing at its longtime football home for at least one more season. School officials are also believed to be close to finalizing a return through the end of a Rose Bowl lease that expires in 2044, the California Post has learned.
Of the more than a dozen fans who spoke with The Post before the Bruins played the Aztecs, there was unanimity about their desire for the future — everyone wanted UCLA to stay put at the Rose Bowl under new coach Bob Chesney.
“We wouldn’t have renewed [season tickets] if we went to SoFi,” said Teresa Hannie, Andre’s wife, “so I’m just glad that they decided not to move forward and we’re here, and we’re just going to enjoy the Chesney train.”
That sentiment was shared by Kim Andreason, who could once again unfurl her menagerie of stuffed bears that she’s been collecting for more than 30 years. She spread the bears on a towel next to her tailgate, something that would have been nearly impossible at SoFi Stadium, where tailgaters are restricted to small spaces behind their vehicles.
“Ecstatic to be here,” Andreason said, “and be able to bring the bears back to the Rose Bowl.”
Asked about his favorite aspect of tailgating at the Rose Bowl, Christopher Venditti told a reporter to look below his feet at the grass, which the Bruins would have traded in for pavement with a move to SoFi Stadium.
“This, right here,” UCLA fan Joe Espino said, motioning to his tailgate, “we can’t do this at SoFi — they don’t allow it, at least definitely not as long as we do it here, for six hours before the game.”
Espino and his father, Jerry, were preparing to dig into a spread of carne asada as well as their special recipe — brats and hot links marinating in a bath of beer with the onions and peppers.
“That’s the way to go,” Jerry Espino said of the concoction. “It stays moist all day long; it never dries out.”
Moving to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood would have been especially hard to stomach for lifelong UCLA fan Ross Niederhaus, whose mother lives a block from the Rose Bowl.
Wearing his favorite No. 2 jersey as an ode to former UCLA defensive back Eric McNeal, who made the game-sealing interception during the Bruins’ upset of No. 2 USC in 2006, Niederhaus said he would savor every home game this season in case they were the last ones at the Rose Bowl.
“We have a guaranteed six games in Pasadena,” Niederhaus said, “so every single day that I’m here, I’m going to spend every possible minute that I can — get in line early, share beer with all the other Bruins, tequila shots, food. We’re a family, we’re a community, and that’s how we do things here, baby.”
Two new members of that family — Chesney and CEO and athletics director Tim Harris — also earned early raves from fans. Teresa Hannie compared Chesney’s charismatic aura to that of Terry Donahue, the winningest coach in UCLA history.
“I know he’s going to bring the fans back, he’s going to reel them in,” Hannie said of Chesney, “because we want Bruin Nation to come back.”
Nathan Nguyen said he liked what he saw when Chesney’s Bruins beat Cal by scoring the final 21 points in his debut.
“That guy is a dude,” Nguyen said. “We have to do anything to keep him here at UCLA!”
So, Chesney deserved a contract extension after one game?
“Yes, right now, give him a 10-year extension!” Nguyen said. “Mr. Tim Harris, do it!”
Harris made a favorable impression after purchasing 300 tickets to give away for the home opener and speaking passionately about the Rose Bowl at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new Field Club in the south end zone.
“I know that he loves the school,” Teresa Hannie said, “and I pray to God that they find a way to stay at the Rose Bowl because if there’s no other way, we need to stay at the Rose Bowl. We can’t go share at other sites where we’re going to be third tier, fourth tier playing on Fridays because we can’t get our prime spot. We need to stay here.”
