UCLA, right now, is a blue-blood brand that is stuck in a budget program’s body and is limping its way through the Big Ten. The roster is thinned out, the NIL purse is tight, and the public narrative around them keeps going downhill. The on-field mistakes have had some harsh off-field implications. DeShaun Foster was fired, and DC Ikaika Malloe was fired. But now two questions emerge: First, who will replace Foster? Second, was he the only problem?
Well, the answer to the first question might have to wait till November at least, but Bruins fans and alumni have answered the second, and it’s a resounding no. To them, the issue is leadership and likely at a higher position. In the athletic director, Martin Jarmond, they see a person who has caused a financial hole, with meager infrastructure, and a coaching hire that made absolutely no sense on paper.
DeShaun Foster was hired to replace Chip Kelly and to maintain continuity, recruiting momentum, and the trusted program voice of UCLA. In short, the decision was rushed. The number of days between Chip Kelly leaving and DeShaun Foster being hired was a grand total of 3. Jarmond went on to choose Foster’s rapport with players and donors over doing a national search. There were a lot of options in the form of Eric Bieniemy (then an NFL OC with deep SoCal ties), Ryan Grubb, and defensive minds familiar to UCLA like D’Anton Lynn and alum Tony White, but ultimately Foster was chosen to lead the team.
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And now that criticism has sharpened into a movement. During a meeting, former Bruin Rick Neuheisel asked, “Is there confidence in the current athletic director when there’s been swing-and-misses, or do you need to go find somebody else?” And from the other side, the college football hall of famer Randy Cross said, “UCLA is clueless, they’re rudderless, they’re leaderless… that athletic department is a joke led by the football team.” The context for clueless here is DeShaun Foster. Foster was given the reins of the UCLA football team without even leading a front, let alone an entire team. He was a position coach and directly jumped to the head coaching post. And what happened next is history.
The backlash has ballooned to levels that it’s now organized. An online petition has been making the rounds calling for Jarmond’s resignation or removal. It has been signed by more than 750 fans as of Sunday. Moreover, about 100 former UCLA players also met Jarmond on Zoom and vented their frustrations on the priorities and pushed for football to be a part of institutional identity again. National voices have piled up about deficits, directions, and missed opportunities, and that perception will linger for quite some time now.
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And Jarmond’s way of handling business isn’t helping him either. UCLA’s Academic Senate’s executive board had sent a letter to the chancellor and vice chancellor, talking about the “profound concerns” related to the annual deficit of the athletic department, amid cost-cutting across academic departments all over UCLA. The letter detailed Jarmond’s $1.5 million contract extension while managing his department with an annual deficit of $20 million. They also talked about how the money spent on athletics will be better used on academics. Jarmond has been walking on thin ice all around him, and now, the voices are far too loud to ignore.
So, what now? Chancellor Julio Frenk has backed Jarmond to lead the hiring of the new head coach. That does oppose the outside protest but raises the stakes for Jarmond, which are now astronomical. This search has to end with a proven head coach who is culturally fit. And they’ve got to figure out their finances. The AD has been bleeding money and running the front in deficit. If Jarmond pulls this off, all might be forgiven, but if this decision goes south, it won’t end well for Martin Jarmond professionally.
Foster’s potential replacement
A new name has emerged as a potential replacement for DeShaun Foster, and it’s Oregon’s offensive coordinator, Will Stein. Analyst Greg McElroy shed some light on the recent developments: “If you go and get Will Stein, who is currently the OC at Oregon, he’d make some sense.” McElroy also weighed in on a splashier option and said, “I think if you wanted to go get Jon Gruden, I’m fine with that, too.” So, UCLA could be going with a play caller or a headline-making veteran.
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The Gruden idea, though, comes with some complications. McElroy cautioned that the former NFL coach won’t be “real interested in that opportunity unless it was a boatload of money,” which is a way too steep ask from a program already running in deficit. Beyond the price tag, he made an interesting observation. On going for a brand name in terms of coaching options, he said, “That’s kind of what North Carolina kind of tried to do, and it didn’t work great.”
Stein, meanwhile, is the opposite of Gruden. He is young, innovative, and someone who comes from momentum, but he has a clear risk of inexperience since he has never been a head coach.This is yet another dilemma that Jarmond would have to solve. Should UCLA go with a brand name or take a risk just like they did in Foster’s case?