UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond will make up to $2.1 million under new contract

UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond’s contract extension that runs through June 30, 2029, calls for incremental raises rising to an annual salary of $2.1 million.

The contract, signed in May by recently departed chancellor Gene Block, took effect July 1 and superseded Jarmond’s previous contract that was set to expire in the summer of 2026. As part of his new contract, he will receive $1.55 million in Year 1, $1.6 million in Year 2, $1.8 million in Year 3, $2 million in Year 4 and $2.1 million in Year 5.

Those amounts in the first two years represent significant raises over the $1.25 million Jarmond was set to make this year and the $1.31 million he would have made in 2025-26 under his previous contract.

Jarmond will make less than some of his counterparts at other public schools known for athletic success. Tennessee’s Danny White will be paid $2.75 million this year, according to USA Today, making him the highest-paid athletic director at a public school in the nation.

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Other top athletic director salaries that have been reported by USA Today include Texas A&M’s Trev Alberts ($2.35 million), Penn State’s Pat Kraft ($2.26 million), Texas Tech’s Kirby Hocutt ($2.24 million), Oklahoma’s Joe Castiglione ($2.2 million) and Ohio State’s Ross Bjork ($2 million). The salary of USC athletic director Jennifer Cohen has not been publicly disclosed because she works at a private university.

Jarmond’s achievements include presiding over UCLA’s move to the Big Ten Conference and a Final Four appearance by the men’s basketball team in 2021, though the football team has not posted a record better than 9-4 and is coming off a losing season under new coach DeShaun Foster.

Jarmond, 45, will be owed the full amount of his remaining contract if he is terminated without cause, though that amount would be offset by compensation received from future employment. If Jarmond were to leave for another job before July 1, 2026, he would have to pay UCLA a $375,000 buyout. After that date, the buyout drops to zero.

Jarmond will receive a $511,500 signing bonus that will be paid in full by June 30, 2025. (Should Jarmond leave UCLA prior to June 30, 2026, he would have to repay the bonus.)

Jarmond also stands to make yearly retention bonuses of $300,000 as of every June 1 he remains on the job. He’s entitled to up to 10 tickets to UCLA sporting events in addition to suite access for football games at the Rose Bowl for business purposes.

Jarmond can be reimbursed for family membership at a mutually agreed upon country, social or athletic club of his choice, subject to chancellor approval and university policy. Jarmond also receives a yearly $5,400 vehicle stipend and an annual allotment of Nike athletic apparel.

Should UCLA finish in the top 25 of the Director’s Cup awarded to the nation’s best overall college athletic programs, Jarmond would receive yearly bonuses ranging from $14,520 to $28,690.

Jarmond’s contract also provides potential yearly bonuses ranging from $8,300 to $20,455 for athlete academic excellence. There are yearly bonuses for meeting unspecified financial goals ranging from $20,750 to $25,220 and matching yearly bonuses for new revenue generation. There are also annual “overall accomplishment incentives” ranging from $186,200 to $226,320.