KAPPAS IN SPORTS
was a professor at UNC Wilmington in the communications department. She was kind of my mom away from home. I still text with her. She’s great. She texted me this morning. Gene Smith the athletic director at Ohio State. I think it’s really important to see people that look like you doing what it is you want to do. I think that is critically important. I don’t care what anybody says. It is easier to achieve if you can see ad believe. And I saw Gene Smith when I was a young guy 21,22 years old at Michigan State. I hadn’t seen black AD’s. And I saw Gene Smith doing it at the highest level. I remember the first time I met him, I was getting his suite ready at Michigan state and was able to talk to him for what seemed like 10 minutes but was probably about 30 seconds. And he was just cool. He was comfortable in his own skin. I never forgot that. You’ve got to get to a place where you’re comfortable in your own skin and comfortable with who you are because a lot of times it takes us a long time to get there. And you can’t be your best unless you’re comfort- able with who you are. And that’s what I learned from Gene. To see a guy that looked like me, and he’s from Cleveland, Ohio just like I’m from Fayetteville, North Carolina, that was big for me. The Journal: For any young Nupes reading this that are interested in a career path similar to yours, what advice would you give them? Jarmond: You’ve got to find champions. You’ve got to find two or three champi- ons in your career. To me champions are those you can count on that know you. It can’t just be someone that doesn’t know you that well. You’ve got to have a relationship with them. Someone that you can count on if there’s an opportu- nity that comes up. Or if there’s critical feedback that you need that they will give you. So it goes both ways. A cham- pion isn’t just someone who champions your causes, they’re also the person that tells you the tough things that someone else might not be comfortable telling you. But you have to get two or three
champions early on in my opinion. Somebody you can call and say hey this UCLA job is open, I’d love your support. Can you give me some advice on what I need to do to position myself better? Or hey I’ve been in this job for four or five years. I feel like I’m stuck. I’m not quite sure what it is I need to do. What’s your advice? And they will give you the real. They will be straight up. And they’ll tell you the truth. Sometimes your cham- pion might be your spouse. Jessica, my wife, is one of my champions. She told me just yesterday “you might want to cancel a meeting or two and get a hair- cut.” That was her way of saying bruh, it ain’t tight. I can remember Gene Smith telling me to get a haircut before an interview when I had just got a cut ear- lier in the day. Seemed like I didn’t get enough taken off the top. But that’s love. I would tell a young aspiring administra- tor a couple of things. I would say find at least two champions. I would also say be willing to do what others are not. That means spend the extra time. That means doing those things that others aren’t doing. Also be excellent at what you’re doing right now. The best way to move on is to be great at what you’re doing right now. And have energy. Be a person that people want to be around. That you give energy, you don’t take it. Bring energy, give energy, don’t take it. That usually means people want to be around you and that helps you.
The Journal: Words of wisdom indeed. We at the Journal definitely appreciate you setting aside time to sit down and chat with us. We certainly wish you and your Bruins continued success. Phi Nu.
52 | WINTER 2020-SPRING 2021 ♦ THE JOURNAL
Publishing achievement for more than 107 years
Made with FlippingBook HTML5