The following article appeared in the Fall 2020 edition of Bruin Blue Magazine.ย
By Jon Gold
ย Martin Jarmond calls from a moving train, darting from Boston to New York City, where he is hoping to put out one of the many fires he's inherited in just his first few weeks as UCLA's brand new athletic director.
It is a fitting metaphor for Jarmond, moving a mile a minute, always on the go.
For the man who unwinds with a little John Coltrane or Miles Davis, there has been nary a relaxing moment to pause in the past several weeks. An apparel deal to eventually negotiate, the lingering effects of the ever-present COVID-19 virus, a cross-country move, finding a home in the real-estate wrestling ring that is Southern California.
All that and more. And worse.
He calls with a brief gap in his schedule to discuss the job with the challenging beginning, and bids goodbyeย promising to reconnect soon.
When he calls back 10 days later, there is weariness in his voice, but also resolution.
"Last weekend, I made a decision that I was going to start every day seeing the light instead of the dark," he said recently. "See the light, in every situation. I made that decision because there's been a lot of darkness lately. Not a lot of joy lately. Emotionally, it has been tough. Last weekend, literally, I said to myself, I have a choice, and I'm going to choose light. I'm going to seek it out ... From that point on, I've woken every day, and as situations arise, I've made the choice to see the light."
Good thing he's in Southern California, then, where there is plenty of sunshine to go around.
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Prior to arriving at UCLA, Jarmond served as
the athleticย director at Boston College
for three yearsย (Photo: Jesus Ramirez)
Jarmond arrives at UCLA after a three-year stint at Boston College, which made him the youngest athletic director in the Power 5 in 2017 after plucking him from Ohio State. He made a name for himself in Buckeye Country after beginning his athletics administration career at Michigan State, working in Columbus for eight years and rising to the position of deputy director of athletics and chief of staff under Gene Smith, who is regarded as one of the best athletic directors in the country.
He inherits the position from Dan Guerrero, who retired from his role after 18 years atop UCLA athletics. The two talk regularly.
"He's been a good source of advice and counsel," Jarmond said of Guerrero. "He and I have talked about the inherent challenges in college athletics today. I choose to look at them as opportunities."
The, ahem, "opportunities" have been plentiful.
In a normal world, Jarmond would be easing into one of the most coveted roles in college athletics, getting to know people in the department, learning a little piece of what makes everyone at UCLA special.
But in the hellscape that is 2020, Jarmond's interactions have been relegated to Zoom meetings.
So, he zooms and Zooms, but he's barely had a chance to breathe.
And that was before his breath was taken away.
Two weeks after his world flipped upside down, it spun him around once more.
Just 14 days after he officially started as UCLA's new athletic director, Jarmond's mother, Virginia, a vivacious 72-year old back in Raleigh, North Carolina, suffered a stroke. A week later, she passed away.
Jarmond, whose mother was his rock, was shattered.
He hasn't had the proper time to grieve. Not now. Not in the midst of everything. Forget the new job, and the wife and three kids. We're in the middle of a pandemic. Now is not the time to process tragedy.
"As the challenges mount, I'm just reminded you have to do one thing at a time," he said. "The best way to eat an apple is one bite at a time. You have to be methodical. Everybody's struggling right now. It's an overwhelming time in our country. From the pandemic to politically, how we're all feeling and coping with a new way of living. Being at home.
"This too shall pass. We will get to the other side. You just have to do the best you can with what you have."
Jarmond has buried himself in his work, but has tried not to be buried by it. It provides a welcome distraction. Mostly welcome.
Jarmond embraces learning the many facets of the UCLA experience.
"I'm a freshman all over again, but I love learning," he said, "and there are so many wonderful things I'm learning about what it means to be a Bruin. At the same time, you've got a timeline, and have to move fairly quickly in regards to making decisions. This is an important juncture in time in college athletics and at UCLA."
So, too, is it an important time in the world, and Jarmond is not blind to the fact that UCLA's world does not simply end at Westwood's borders.
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Jarmond and his wife, Jessica, are the proud parents of three daughters. L-R: Scarlett, Serena
and Savannah. (Photo: Courtesy Jarmond Family)ย
As a Black man in America, he has not been immune to the societal injustices that have plagued an entire people. As one of nine Black athletic directors in the Power 5 โ and the first in UCLA history โ he knows his personal journey plays a role in how he interacts with student-athletes.
"You are your life experiences," he said. "Everyone goes through periods of discomfort and challenges. How do we navigate through those and move forward? You have to have a level of grit and determination to see it through. Balance that with humility and recognition that the journey is not linear, but with the right perspective, a positive attitude and strong teamwork, you can accomplish all things."
One of Jarmond's first acts as athletic director was jumpstarting the Voting Matters Initiative, which came in response to conversations he'd had with Bruin student-athletes.
That, above everything might be Jarmond's greatest strength: His ability to listen with humility and enact change.
It served him on the basketball court years ago.
Despite being slight in stature, just 5-foot-10 in his playing days, Jarmond was a three-year starter at Fayetteville's Pine Forest High School before walking on at UNC Wilmington, where he served as team captain for two seasons.
How does a non-starter end up a two-time team captain?
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Jarmond, a standout basketball player in high school,
went on to play at the University of North Carolina
Wilmington from 1998-2001 where he served as team
captain and was selected for the CAA All-Academic
team in 2000. (Photo: Courtesy Jarmond Family)ย
He listens and he leads.
"We're in strange times," he said, one day after the Pac-12 announced that it was postponing play until 2021. "You have to have the proper perspective, especially when things are chaotic around you. For me, it's focusing on who I serve: our student-athletes. That's why the decision about postponing fall sports was so tough. They work so hard, compete so hard to play the game they love. When you're 18, 19, 20 years old, that rocks your world."
It's not much easier when you're 40.
Jarmond has been here before, bumped and bruised by the winding rollercoaster that is life.
He entered his freshman season at UNC Wilmington as a walk-on, determined to prove his worth. Then he tore the medial meniscus and required knee surgery, from which, he said, he "never recovered." During his sophomore year, his mother called him in his dorm room to tell him the news: breast cancer. A pain worse than the bum knee.
Finally, an emotional reprieve in his junior year, when he was named team captain โ despite rarely seeing the floor โ and helped lead UNC Wilmington to their first NCAA Tournament appearance. And then sorrow once more as a senior, when the Seahawks succumbed in the Colonial Athletic Association championship by two points.
"That's some highs and lows, man," he said. "Some highs and lows. But I can tell you, through that time I learned and I grew and I persevered. Becoming a leader, learning how I could contribute even if it wasn't how I thought I would. The injuries, my mom's health, going through all that and still seeing it through, that gives you a resiliency that sharpens like steel over time. Nothing in front of me matters โ it doesn't matter. You go through challenges, and you experience failure, and it gives you a resolve and focus and drive to see it through."
So that's what he's going to do.
He's going to see it through, always choosing to see the light.
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