LOS ANGELES — Martin Jarmond was fired from his position of athletic director at UCLA on Monday, a source close to the school confirmed to the Southern California News Group.
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Jarmond held the post for six years and oversaw six national championships in four different Olympic sports as well as the women’s basketball team winning the title in 2026. He helped transition UCLA from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten Conference.
However, he was unable to maintain the standard UCLA expects in the premier Division I sports — men’s basketball and football. Meanwhile, UCLA’s athletics department lagged behind its peers in keeping up with a rapidly evolving college sports landscape.
UCLA’s decision to make a change at AD comes on the precipice of a new era in football, ushered in with the hiring of head coach Bob Chesney, as the Bruins open their season against Cal on Saturday. Tim Harris, a UCLA alum who spent 35 years with the Los Angeles Lakers, serving as the organization’s President of Business Operations, will serve as CEO and Director of UCLA Athletics on a “pro bono basis.” Harris is also a former UCLA soccer standout.
Chancellor Julio Frenk shared a statement regarding the decision on Monday:
“As we shape what comes next, Martin Jarmond will leave his role as director of athletics today,” Frenk’s statement said. “I am grateful to Martin for his extraordinary service to UCLA and for his leadership over the past six years.
“To move us forward, I have asked Tim Harris to serve as CEO and Director of UCLA Athletics,” Frenk’s statement continued. “Tim knows what it takes to grow a world-class sports organization and global brand, and he holds longstanding relationships throughout Los Angeles and globally. He brings decades of experience in creating partnerships and new sources of revenue, along with a personal focus on centering the student-athlete experience.”
Under Jarmond, UCLA floundered in football. Head coach Chip Kelly left the program after his third year working with Jarmond. The program hired former UCLA running back DeShaun Foster to take over, but his tenure lasted 15 games and he was fired after an 0-3 start to his second season. After UCLA sputtered to a 3-9 record in 2025, Jarmond and a committee of alums hired Bob Chesney as head coach, a decision that has garnered praise throughout the nation, but didn’t do enough to save Jarmond’s job.
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On the men’s basketball side, UCLA reached the Final Four in Jarmond’s first year in Westwood. The Bruins haven’t advanced past the Sweet Sixteen since. Following a two-year stretch between 2023-2025, in which the Bruins went 39-28 and won one March Madness game, Jarmond extended head coach Mick Cronin with an average annual salary of $4.5 million and a contract buyout that, as of March 31, 2026, is $22.5 million, per a records request the SCNG obtained.
Among the failures that spelled the end for Jarmond’s time at UCLA, the crux for his departure seems rooted in UCLA’s financial direction.
“We have all watched as the landscape of college athletics has transformed in recent years, driven by the introduction of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), new models for student-athlete compensation, and a rapidly changing sports marketplace. UCLA must have an athletics model that leads — not just keeps pace,” Frenk wrote.
“UCLA Athletics currently carries a significant financial deficit, and its current path is not sustainable,” Frenk’s statement continued. “Now is the moment to build a model for Athletics that protects the breadth of our program, creates new opportunities for student-athletes and coaches, and supports itself through the revenue it generates. I believe UCLA should help lead the transformation of intercollegiate athletics: our future must be shaped by purpose — not by pressure.”
As college sports continues to favor those on the forefront of understanding how to effectively use and make money, Harris will lead a department with its share of challenges ahead.
“Tim will develop a new strategy to grow revenue through partnerships, licensing and other ventures, while ensuring that our student-athletes and coaches have the required support to compete at the highest level,” Frenk’s statement said.
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