The UCLA Bruins made a serious shakeup to start off Week 1 of their college season by announcing the dismissal of Athletic Director Martin Jarmond, after Jamond served as UCLA’s AD since 2020.
Not only did UCLA can Jarmond, they burned $6.5 million to move on. Jarmond will receive a slightly lesser buyout than former football head coach DeShaun Foster received after being fired last year. The Bruins have now dedicated over $12 million to buyouts over the past year between Foster and Jarmond.
For a university that’s seeking profitability in every avenue, spending $12 million on two employees to leave your program doesn’t make perfect sense, but with the moves, it’s become clear that UCLA believed that keeping Jarmond and Foster would have cost
the athletic programs even more.
ESPN’s Paolo Uggetti reported on Jarmond’s firing Monday afternoon.
“Jarmond is set to be owed the $6.5 million remaining on his contract. He has been there since 2020 when he arrived from Boston College,” Uggetti wrote. “During his time at UCLA, Jarmond oversaw the departure of Chip Kelly in 2024 and replaced him with former player DeShaun Foster, who went 5-10 in a short stint as the football program's head coach. Foster was fired last year after an 0-3 start to the season.
Jarmond also played a role in the Bruins' decision to leave the Pac-12 and join the Big Ten in August 2024 alongside rival USC.”
While UCLA fans will have many, many complaints about Jarmond and his time with the Bruins, the hope is that Jarmond did the school a few solids by landing new football head coach Bob Chesney and standout basketball recruit Nikola Kusturica before getting canned.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: UCLA to pay a $6.5 million buyout to former AD Martin Jarmond
