UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond opens up on move to the Big Ten

With the recent move of USC and UCLA to the Big Ten, the college sports landscape is once again drastically changing. UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond had a lot to consider when making the decision to leave the Pac-12, but ultimately decided it was what was best for his school.

In a recent appearance on ESPN, Jarmond went into detail on the various factors that went into his decision to make the jump. The Bruins AD admitted it was not just the football program he had in mind, but also the numerous other teams at the university.

“It’s stressful. There’s a lot of moving parts and there’s a lot to factor and decide and consider,” Jarmond said. “You have to take all of that into stock and it’s not something that you can really talk about. There was a lot of consideration because this is a big move. This is a big change for everybody. At the end of the day, it’s about our student athletes and we keep them at the core. What’s going to put them in the best position? What’s going to help make sure that our programs are here for a long time for generations to come? We have 119 national championships and it’s important to support all 25 of our programs. So you’re taking a lot of things into consideration. But at the end of the day with this seismic change in college athletics, we wanted to be in a position of strength at UCLA and that’s what we intend to do.”

On Thursday, Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren released a statement announcing the moves, which will take the league to 16 teams in just a few years. Now, the conference stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific — and conference realignment continues to be a huge part of the college football landscape.

Both USC and UCLA will join the Big Ten in 2024 after more than 100 years as members of the Pac-12. It comes less than a year after Texas and Oklahoma announced they’re leaving the Big 12 for the SEC in the near future. Now, another seismic change is coming to college athletics — specifically college football.

UCLA brings a rich athletic tradition to the Big Ten having claimed 119 national championships in its history. It also boast athletes such as Jackie Robinson, Troy Aikman and Kareem Abdul-Jabaar throughout its illustrious past.

The Bruins will hope to continue that success in the Big Ten, where they’ll face many historic programs such as Ohio State and Michigan to name a couple. It will certainly be tough, but with the way college sports is headed, Jarmond believes it is the right move.