After spending the last three years as the athletic director at Boston College, Martin Jarmond made the decision to take his talents out West.
Jarmond opted to leave BC for a new opportunity as the director of athletics at UCLA. On the latest episode of The Michael Holley Podcast, Jarmond opened up about his difficult choice.
"It's been crazy. The last three weeks, it's been one of the most interesting, hardest decisions of my life to leave Boston College to go to UCLA," Jarmond told Holley. "I've been here three years at BC ... It wasn't something I was looking for, you know? That's the interesting thing. Sometimes people say when you get jobs or an opportunity it's when you've got a great job and great situation and not necessarily looking, and this was exactly the same story here.
"We were doing some great things. COVID actually happened and shut down our spring sports and spring semester with athletics, which was unprecedented. So you're dealing with that and your student-athletes leaving campus and planning for the fall. And then all of a sudden this UCLA opportunity kind of bubbled up. I'm from North Carolina, I'm in the Northeast now, I never saw myself as 'West Coast.' But you never know when you're going to get that call and you have to answer that call. That next appointment, that next challenge, that next opportunity."
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While he's excited about the opportunity, Jarmond makes it clear it was an emotional decision and he'll cherish the time he spent as the head of the Boston College athletic program.
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"It was tough, man," Jarmond said. "When I called Father Leahy, the president at Boston College, I called him on a Friday night and it was still, I hadn't gotten the official offer from UCLA but it looked it was going to come. And I called him at 9 o'clock at night, and I said 'Father, I think I'm leaning towards doing this,' and then I just broke down and started crying.
"I was just bawling. And he said 'I wish I could come give you a hug right now' and I said 'I wish you could too.' That's just how emotional, how tough it was for me to leave BC and what we've been able to accomplish and the energy and momentum that we had."
For more from Jarmond, including why he believes Jeff Hafley is the right choice as the next BC head football coach, listen to the new episode of The Michael Holley Podcast by subscribing or checking it out on YouTube.