Yahoo Finance Sources: BC's Martin Jarmond finalizing deal to become UCLA athletic director
Boston College athletic director Martin Jarmond is finalizing a six-year deal to become the new athletic director at UCLA, according to multiple sources. Jarmond, 40, spent the last three years at BC, giving an antiquated department a needed jolt of energy and earning a reputation as a high-level fundraiser.
BC made a strong push to keep Jarmond the past 48 hours after UCLA’s interest became clear the last few days. BC valued Jarmond’s performance and the way he’d modernized the athletic department after arriving at BC as the youngest athletic director in the Power Five.
Jarmond will replace Dan Guerrero, who is retiring after nearly 18 years of service in Westwood. Jarmond beat out Penn’s Grace Calhoun and UNLV athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois for the job.
He inherits an athletic department in financial tumult in a moment where the general collegiate sporting landscape is in flux. According to reports earlier this year, UCLA is facing nearly $19 million in athletic department deficits from 2019.
The new AD inherits a football program trying to find its footing under Chip Kelly and a basketball program that blossomed to life in Mick Cronin’s first season there. A spike in attendance from those programs continuing to improve and the school paying off the buyouts of former coaches Jim Mora Jr. and Steve Alford will ultimately be the keys to UCLA digging out of its financial mess.
Jarmond came to Boston College in 2017 from Ohio State, where he’d served as veteran athletic director Gene Smith’s top lieutenant in the Buckeye athletic department. Jarmond spent nearly nine years at Ohio State, arriving as an associate athletic director for development in 2009 and working his way up to eventually oversee football.
His background in fundraising offers some appeal to UCLA. He helped modernize the BC athletic department’s fundraising, including the launch of a $150 million athletic department capital campaign. It was the first athletic fundraising program in school history and the largest athletics campaign of any ACC school, according to his BC bio.
Jarmond’s mark at BC includes significant fan, student and athlete engagement, as he prided himself on accessibility and visibility on campus. He delighted BC fans by bringing beer and wine sales to games at Alumni Stadium and Conte Forum. Jarmond was an outsized presence on social media and prided himself on getting to know athletes at BC. His biggest personnel move came this winter when he fired football coach Steve Addazio and replaced him with former Ohio State defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley.
Jarmond successfully executed two strong hires in non-revenue sports. In 2018, he brought in Joanna Bernabei-McNamee as women’s basketball coach, and she earned ACC coach of the year last year. His hire in volleyball, former USC assistant Jason Kennedy, orchestrated a turnaround that culminated with the Eagles winning 20 games last season.
Jarmond is a former basketball captain at UNC-Wilmington, where he played for notable coach Jerry Wainwright. Jarmond and his wife, Dr. Jessica Jarmond, have three young daughters.
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