‘Current Path Not Sustainable’: UCLA Fires AD Martin Jarmond Citing ‘Significant Financial Deficit’

The Bruins are changing the locks … for a cool $6.5 million.

UCLA announced Monday that they have fired athletic director Martin Jarmond.

Julio Frenk, the chancellor of the university, explained in a letter to the Bruins community that the decision is due to the school’s athletic program currently carrying “a significant financial deficit, and its current path is not sustainable.” (RELATED: Los Angeles Should Be Ashamed Of Themselves For ‘Absolutely Embarrassing’ Crowd At USC Football Game)

Working for the school since 2020 after being hired from Boston College, Jarmond is slated to be paid $6.5 million to fulfill the remainder of his contract, according to ESPN.

Some of the moves made under Jarmond’s leadership were: hiring Bob Chesney as the football head coach from College Football Playoff contender James Madison, the firing of Chip Kelly, and leaving the Pac-12 to join the Big Ten.

Paying a guy $6.5 million just to go away because you’re in a massive financial hole is crazy work.

UCLA brass wants everyone to believe this is a bold, proactive step toward balancing the books, but from where I’m sitting, it looks like a desperate reset after years of reckless mismanagement.

I mean, to be fair to Jarmond, poaching Bob Chesney is a respectable, scrappy football hire, but at this point and with everything we know, it feels like he was putting a fresh coat of paint on a house whose foundation is already cracked. And this is exactly why he got fired.

After this mess, the Bruins need a dynamic fundraiser, and more importantly, a financial realist.