Martin Jarmond explains decision to retain Chip Kelly as UCLA head coach
Martin Jarmond says he’s excited about the UCLA football program under Chip Kelly, that a “phenomenal” culture is in place, and that he has confidence in Kelly’s ability to tackle problem areas within the program.
In an exclusive interview with The L.A. Times’ Bill Plaschke, Jarmond explained his rationale for retaining Kelly heading into the 2024 season. There had been some speculation that Kelly could be fired once his sixth regular season wrapped up, but a 38-20 win over USC appears to have saved his job.
Jarmond told Plaschke that continuity is important to him as UCLA moves into a new conference.
“You don’t look at one moment where there’s a high or a low, you look at a body of work, you look at trajectory, you look at improvement, that’s how I evaluate programs,” Jarmond told Plaschke. “I’m excited, I think there’s so many positives with the program … we all understand we’ve got to do better, and we will do better. … I’m confident Chip and the staff are going to work together to tackle those areas we need to improve and get better.”
UCLA’s full body of work under Chip Kelly features a 34-34 record, no bowl victories, no conference championship game appearances, and a 7-28 record against teams that finished the year with a winning record.
Recent success would be the better piece to tout for Kelly. The Bruins are 24-13 over the last three seasons.
However, the Bruins’ 2024 recruiting class ranks outside the national top 50 and the top signee from the 2023 class, quarterback Dante Moore, just announced plans to hit the transfer portal.
Fans this week have been flying banners over UCLA’s campus calling for Kelly to be dismissed. They told The Times’ Ben Bolch they plan to continue flying banners around the Rose Bowl during each home game next season until Kelly is fired.
Asked by Plaschke if he takes fan support into account, Jarmond
“I take that a lot into consideration,” Jarmond told The Times. “We need our fans and our booster and our alumni’s support. I appreciate the passion of Bruin nation. I completely understand why fans aren’t satisfied with the outcome of the regular season. No one is satisfied.”
The Bruins are 7-5 after losing three of their last four. A bowl game remains.