UCLA Men's Golf Hires Arizona State Assistant Armen Kirakossian as New Coach

Three years removed from being named the top assistant in the country, Kirakossian will inherit the Bruins' program from retiring head coach Derek Freeman.

The Bruins have found the next leader for their program.

UCLA men's golf has hired Arizona State associate head coach Armen Kirakossian to be their next head coach, the program announced Monday. Kirakossian spent the past five seasons with the Sun Devils, starting as an assistant coach in 2017 before getting promoted to associate head coach in 2019.

Kirakossian is replacing Derek Freeman, who announced back on Nov. 1 that he would be retiring at the end of the season 14 years after leading the Bruins to their first and only NCAA championship in 2008.

Prior to coaching at Arizona State, Kirakossian was also an assistant at Pepperdine just a few miles up the road from Westwood. Before that, he was the head coach at his alma mater, Texas Pan American.

"Every coach dreams of being able to lead a program at a prestigious university and athletic department such as UCLA," Kirakossian said in a statement. "I can't thank Martin Jarmond, Chris Carlson, and the search committee enough for their belief in me. It was clear throughout the process that UCLA was a special place that attracts great people. I will make sure the players have an amazing collegiate golf experience, achieving greatness on the course and in the classroom."

At the end of the 2018-2019 season, Kirakossian won the Strickland Award, given to the top assistant coach in the country. Under Kirakossian and head coach Matt Thurmond, the Sun Devils posted back-to-back NCAA championship appearances in 2021 and 2022, placing third and finishing as the runner-up, respectively.

Kirakossian has coached each of the past three Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year Award winners, and Arizona State has finished in the top 10 of the final Golfweek Rankings in each of the last four seasons. During Kirakossian's tenure in Tempe, the Sun Devils have 15 team wins and 15 individual wins, producing 11 All-Americans and 17 All-Pac-12 Team members – more than anyone else in the conference.

UCLA has placed 12th and sixth in the last two Pac-12 tournaments, compared to second and third-place finishes by Arizona State. The Bruins have just one team win to their name across the past three seasons and have not advanced past the NCAA Regionals since 2018.

Kirakossian is the fifth of Thurmond's former assistants at Arizona State to take a Division I head coaching job elsewhere. He also stood in as former Sun Devil Chun An Yu's caddy at the 2018 US Open.

Kirakossian's arrival marks the fourth head coach Jarmond has hired since coming on as athletic director in 2020, all of which have arrived in the past sixth months. New UCLA women's rowing coach Previn Chandraratna was an internal hire following his stints as an interim and assistant with the Bruins, but Jarmond has now brought in three top-ranked assistants from across the country to head up programs on campus.

"Armen brings a wealth of championship-level success, having helped produce some of the top amateur golfers in the nation," Jarmond said in a statement. "His ability to connect and develop student athletes has made him one of the top assistant coaches in the country, and I'm excited to welcome him to Westwood!"

Stanford's Margueritte Aozasa became Jarmond's first head coaching hire when he brought her in to fill the UCLA women's soccer vacancy in December, and Cal's Janelle McDonald was the next to join the Bruins when she took over UCLA gymnastics in May. Adding Kirakossian into the mix, all three external hires Jarmond has made have been award-winning Pac-12 assistants.

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