Will Martin Jarmond get to hire a new football coach after whiffing with DeShaun Foster in his first attempt? That’s the question on the mind of every UCLA football fan who is excited to see a new leader at the helm of the program, but is also afraid Jarmond will bring in another unsuccessful candidate.
On Sunday, the Los Angeles Times’ Bill Plaschke released a column about that question. He thinks UCLA should not allow Jarmond to decide the next Bruins’ head coach after his previous selection brought the program to an all-time low this season.
Plaschke says that Jarmond’s initial mistake was not firing Chip Kelly after the Bruins’ head coach was interviewing for other jobs despite still being with UCLA, focusing on joining Ohio State instead of recruiting for UCLA. After Kelly left, Jarmond was influenced by people around the program supporting Foster, rather than finding the most qualified candidate.
In the column, Plaschke lists good and bad news for UCLA surrounding their search for a new head coach.
“OK, so the good news is that UCLA now has an entire season to find a bright young coach — where is the Sean McVay of college football? He has to be out there! — and they will have the first shot at many good candidates.
The bad news is that Jarmond was talking Sunday about assembling a search committee full of a bunch of so-called experts and former Bruins. That never works. Too many voices drown each other out and you end up with a compromise candidate.
The hire needs to be made by a strong athletic director willing to make a bold hire for which they accept full responsibility and hold themselves completely accountable.
More bad news. Until further notice, that athletic director is Martin Jarmond,” Plaschke wrote.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Los Angeles Times’ Bill Plaschke does not voice support for UCLA’s Martin Jarmond
Reporting by Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
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