UCLA football fired head coach DeShaun Foster after an unsuccessful start. Now it’s a question of whether UCLA Athletic Director Martin Jarmond will be fired before it hires Foster’s successor for the Bruins. The Bruins fired Foster three games into the 2025 season, but Jarmond has been unsuccessful at building the Bruins’ football team since joining the school in 2020. Men’s and women’s water polo, women’s soccer, and men’s volleyball all won championships in his tenure, but football has been notably unsuccessful. It could be time for the Bruins to clean house and start from scratch. The Southern California Football Roundtable discussed whether UCLA will fire Jarmond before it hires DeShaun Foster’s successor for the Bruins.
Matt Zemek, Editor
Yes. UCLA was surprisingly proactive in firing DeShaun Foster. When the interview process begins for hiring a new coach, any smart candidate will insist on Jarmond being dismissed. Especially smart candidates will insist on having a specific list of athletic directors they would want to work with. UCLA will realize it simply can’t move forward until Jarmond is out of the picture. Like the Foster situation, UCLA will confront the reality that it has no choice.
Ryan Lorenz, UCLA Wire
I’m not sure if he will, but he definitely should. The fanbase wants him gone and any coach who has any sort of awareness of UCLA Athletics should want him out of the building before putting ink to paper. Credit the Bruins for acting swiftly and removing DeShaun Foster rather than sitting on it until the end of the season, so maybe they will make the right afterall and move on from Jarmond.
Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire
How much money is the UCLA administration willing to eat? Administrators have proven they’re not completely afraid of buying out bad contracts, firing DeShaun Foster before his buyout decreases on December 1st but would they be willing to eat millions more by canning Jarmond? I’m a bit hesitant to say he’ll be fired before the end of the calendar year. UCLA gave him an extension less than a year ago and while UCLA football stinks, the rest of the Bruins’ programs are in pretty good shape. I don’t think the next head coach will be Jarmond’s choice but I bet he’ll be at the introductory press conference, for better or for worse.
Adam Bradford, Trojans Wire
Martin Jarmond is one of the most innovative athletic directors in the country. It was his visionary leadership that played an integral part in UCLA joining the Big Ten. The athletic department is in a great place with him leading the way, and he has absolutely earned the right to hire UCLA’s next head football coach.
(Obviously, I am being sarcastic. Unless your name is Julio Frenk or Casey Wasserman, in which case I am 100% serious.)
Micah Huff, Trojans Wire
UCLA has no choice but to get a clean slate. I do not think many coaches will take this job with Jarmond still working with this program. It makes the most sense for the Bruins to correctly align the new head coach and athletic director. As bad as things have been so early in this season, this team needs a complete fresh start. The Bruins moved with urgency to move on from Foster, I expect them to do the same with Jarmond.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Roundtable — Will Martin Jarmond get fired before UCLA hires its new football coach?
Reporting by Ryan Lorenz, Dylan McNeill and Matt Zemek, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
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