The session was light on details, but that really can't be a surprise. The guy is not even officially in the job yet and hasn't met the whole staff. He may have very specific plans for BC, but now wasn't the time to share them.
He emphasized BC's balance of academics and athletics and even sprinkled in a reference to the spiritual (which is a slightly new twist). While still not battling the specifics of parking, food, tailgates, etc, he did address that the fan's game day experience starts at home and BC needs to make the trip to campus inviting and easy. Jarmond avoided a pointed question about both basketball programs and did say that he has hired and fired people before (it is just not on his resume).
I also appreciated his humor. He joked with alumni Tom Leyden that the school will soon be asking him for money. I can't see Brad Bates ever joking about something like that. But the joke, his background and his reference to BC's financial commitment show that we have a AD focused on fundraising. That doesn't guarantee success, but having more resources won't hurt any program.
Press Conferences don't make a team or program. They are only really notable when they are screwed up. Jarmond did better than most, but I don't think anyone is going to remember this day. What he does in the next two years will be more important.
Welcome Martin Jarmond pic.twitter.com/KTpJgEUnQt
— #BCEagles (@BCEagles) April 24, 2017
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Like many of us I watched the Press Conference in it's entirety. I continue to be encouraged and excited about the hire. He clearly is confident yet seems to be mature beyond his years. He addressed his age question perfectly and also felt he was at ease in front of a crowd (not Bates or Gene style). It seemed he actually wanted more questions asked, wanted to continue the q & a. Again it is easy to see why he has been a successful fundraiser. As ATL said the quick witted comment to Leyden was funny.
I enjoyed how he described how he is process & detailed oriented which is very encouraging. I think he is clearly going to have a detailed plan and stick to it. That was both Bates and ultimately Gene's undoing. Bates never had any plan, just seemed to react to situations very poorly and Gene seemed to have a plan while the department had success and then seemed to get bored and got far to disruptive in many ways.
I was extremely encouraged when asked how he is going to bring fans back. #1 he said we need to win. #2 he said he & his staff will put a lot of thought into the entire 'customer experience' starting for when fans leave their house. Clearly no one at BC has ever put any thought into any part of the fan experience. BC has to have the worst user friendly tailgating atmosphere in the country. He will continue to win over fans if he makes major improvements in this area.
I think both basketball coaches are not going to be working with Jarmond more then this 17-18 season. I think the entire Administration & Flynn Fund staffs will be shaken up.
Two things that I didn't like were #1 why is he still waiting until mid June to officially move into his office. I understand he has to tie up loose ends in Columbus, find a house, relocate his family etc. However Bates should not come to work at BC ever again and Jarmond should be traveling back and forth from Columbus to BC for the next month. Don't understand the wait, we have waited long enough.
#2 I don't see Leahy public speak often so maybe that is his demeanor all the time but how bad was his body language during that entire press conference? He spoke with no enthusiasm, no energy, thought he was really poor. Finally everyone is excited about a hire, I imagine he is hearing the positive reception and he couldn't have been more of a dud. ugh.
excellent.
i like that he is a family guy and obviously a very well grounded and humble man.
luv with NCAA player and B10 experiences, esp tOSU.
I luv that he was not afraid to talk about winning and that BC wants to win.
He outlined three themes: passion; Alignment (sounds like be prepared to win) and Competitive excellence(wining)
As a result, expect Worse (daz) and Worser (JC) to be "launched" soon....
He seems very good based on this clip. He wants to win. That is what we need . . . wins in Mens basketball and Football.
He will need to clean house(in the Athletic Department and coaches) to get people in there that are as competitive as he seems to be. Christian is gone. Jarmond and Dazzler have similar communication styles. That may pan-out for Dazzler in terms of a contract extension.
I don't like when people say they are fathers and husbands first. Nobody cares about your wife and kids. If that is your philosophy fine(I agree with it) but don't tell me you are happy to serve Boston College but that your family comes first. You are already telling me that Boston College is not going to get your full attention.
Just turn the program around. That's all we care about.
knuckle, show me a guy with a family that does not put his family first (not his first responsibility) and i'll show you an self-centered immoral prick. No thanks. God. Family. Country. BC
Loved it - concise and to the point. He has a lot of hard work ahead of him. Maybe others saw the problems where he saw the opportunities. Wish him well.
Well said "Mod".
Right. I got it. I agree with it. I don't need to hear about it. We know your family is important when you speak about them directly. Don't need to explicitly state they are more important to you than the job you just accepted.
Fix the Department.
Completely agree, mod. And the "family" thing certainly didn't hurt in getting him hired. Speaks to his character.
Was this the exchange you didnt like knuckle? -- seems pretty harmless
Q. You mentioned challenges. What are one or two of the biggest challenges you've considered that you'll be facing in the first couple of months that you begin?
MARTIN JARMOND: Well, the biggest challenge is just transition for me and my family personally. I think -- I've got to learn. I don't know a lot right now, and I've got to learn a lot and get up to speed as soon as possible. So the biggest challenge is really learning the team that I'm working with, the coaches, understanding what our challenges are from the coaches. And we have a lot of coaches, and I'm still not here yet. So that's the biggest challenge right now is just accelerating that process of learning and understanding and assessing so then I can move forward and we can work. That's probably the biggest challenge.
No. Like I said. Very simply. When he talks about his wife, kids, parents and buddy from college who is a UNC fan that is enough for everyone to know they are a/his priority. He doesn't need to undermine(a soft undermine or rank order) his employer by then saying explicitly that family comes first. Odd comments to make in a press conference.
If he prioritizes family and friends that is fine. He was hired to improve the Boston College athletic department though. That is what the press conference was about. I don't want to hear that he doesn't care as much about one or the other.
Just watched the press conference.
agree that he should have stopped with thanking his wife as they are a team in the beginning.
I would have liked to if he has Initial thoughts regarding passion, alignment and competitive excellence. It would have been nice to see some test balloons and also put Daz on notice regarding expectations and demonstration of 'competitive excellence'
Overall I hope he does a great job. I hope he is much more visible than BB and leading ; not reacting
They were routine, perfunctory, and respectful comments. Thanking your wife and parents and being capable at your biggest job yet are not mutually exclusive concepts. Geez. Now people are parsing a completely ordinary speech. Too much time on their hands and not enough to agonize over apparently. Absurd.
I am extremely hopeful about this hire. Love his energy, idealism, and poise. Gonna be great with alums and fundraising no doubt. I see him drawing a lot of former players back into the fold as supporters as well.
From my own experience working with the BC administration, his biggest challenge is going to be his role as a change agent. We made a statement that we were hiring him to shake things up, think differently and get the program moving forward again. But the entire BC administration (not just athletics) is notoriously adverse to change. I have found that it is very much a "this is how we've always done things" culture at the University.
The political structure there is such that everyone is afraid of doing something that will piss off Leahy. Hopefully the BoT has given Jaramond the greenlight to buck that trend. Otherwise, the quick burst of enthusiasm we will see over the next 18-24 months will quickly wane and we will see the program return to the same old playbook.
Best of luck to AD Jaramond!
I am so very much over Fr. Leahy. Time for a fresh perspective.
Leadership means empowering the people you have hired to actually do their job.
Okay, Fr. Leahy - Act II starts now.
Go BC
The fish rots from the head down. As long as Leahy is still here, the loser mentality will persist.
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