Bill Plaschke lands the interview we all made attempts to get.
Gets him to talk about his evaluation of Chip’s performance, NIL and its importance, and more:
https://www.latimes.com/sports/ucla...ootball-chip-kelly-martin-jarmond-explanation
“We want to compete at the highest level and graduate student athletes at the highest level, recruit and develop young people that are great representatives of UCLA, that’s the goal,” said Jarmond. “If you look at our football program, we have great young men in our program, Chip has created a strong and phenomenal culture, it shows when we have so many guys that return and want to go for their masters degrees … the culture is very strong and the young men that come out of UCLA, out of this program, are great representatives, that’s important.
“Continuity and stability are bedrocks of a successful program. We have so much change coming, we’re going to get a new chancellor, we’re going into a new conference, and so you really want that continuity and stability to usher you into a new era.
“I’ve had conversations with Chip … we both understand that we’re not satisfied, especially with the way the regular season ended. No one in that Wasserman [athletic department] building is satisfied … we know that we’ve got to improve in some areas … we’re going to work together to address those areas where we need more focus and emphasis.”
On the fan backlash:
““I take that a lot into consideration. 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.”