The Bruins are in the market for a new head coach and hope to find one in the upcoming days.
UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond spoke with the media Friday afternoon to discuss UCLA football’s head coaching search following Chip Kelly’s departure to become Ohio State’s offensive coordinator. Jarmond said he, along with executive senior associate athletic directors Christina Munger-Rivera and Josh Rebholz and senior associate athletic director Erin Adkins, will spearhead the search for Kelly’s replacement.
This is Jarmond’s first time entering the football head coach carousel as UCLA’s athletic director.
“We’re looking for a leader – permanently – for our program,” Jarmond said. “Obviously, we’ll adjust if we need to, but I want to find a head coach that’s going to be here. So that’s the ideal goal. Timeline, hopefully 96 hours. That’s what I told the team, to give us 96 hours – could be sooner, could be later. But we’re going to move fast.”
Jarmond said Kelly called him Friday morning to inform him of the decision to leave Westwood, adding that UCLA would enforce the six-year Bruin coach’s $1.5 million buyout. Bruin Report Online reported Friday that Kelly held a meeting with the team to inform them of his departure.
Following Kelly’s meeting, Jarmond said he met with the players and received their feedback on what they desire in a head coach, as well as sharing his own desires for the new hire.
Those qualities, Jarmond said, included someone who has integrity, is a teacher and competitor, wants to be a Bruin and is what he describes as a “CEO.”
“You need a CEO that embraces all aspects of a successful program,” Jarmond said. “That’s NIL. That’s recruiting. That’s donor relations. That’s development of young people. It’s all of that. So we’re looking for a CEO that has that energy and a passion for that.”
UCLA has not embarked on a football coaching search since 2017, when Jim Mora was fired and interim head coach Jedd Fisch – now Washington’s head coach – took over. While at Boston College, during his first stint as an athletic director, Jarmond hired Jeff Hafley as the Eagles’ head coach after the firing of Steve Addazio.
Despite launching a coaching search in a hiring cycle that is typically completed in December, Jarmond said the program is confident in its ability to find a suitable replacement.
“Timing is a challenge,” Jarmond said. “Obviously, we are the only school that’s in a search for a head coach now, but we are going to do well, and I have no doubt we are going to get someone great to lead our young men.”
Jarmond dismissed the idea of being caught off guard by Kelly’s decision.
“This is something – as an athletic director, as an executive team, as an athletic program – you have to be ready, in case you’re in the middle of a search. And so this is not something that we were caught off guard,” Jarmond said. “We were ready, and we’re prepared.”
