It’s been difficult to keep up with the smoke signals and throw-stuff-at-the-wall-gumshoe-ery coming out of the Boston College Athletic Director search, but with a hiring expected almost imminently — perhaps as soon as today — a new name has come out of nowhere as a front-runner for the position.

Sports Illustrated’s Pete Thamel — a respected source in the sports world — is reporting on Wednesday that Ohio State Deputy Athletic Director Martin Jarmond is expected to be hired for the role this week:

Ohio State’s Martin Jarmond has emerged as the strong front-runner to be Boston College's next athletic director, according to multiple sources. Jarmond’s hiring is expected to be completed by the end of the week.

There’s a lot of negativity out there about BC’s ability to come up with a good hire for the position, but it’s almost impossible not to be impressed when one takes a look into Jarmond’s resume. Off the cuff, if official, this feels like an absolute home run of a hire.

He has a very strong Power 5 history, working at both Michigan State and now Ohio State, so he knows the rigors involved with big-time college athletics. He also has a history of setting fundraising records, is young (he was recently named to Sports Business Daily Journal’s “Forty Under 40” list), and — yes, it’s absolutely important and needs to be said — is a minority candidate. As a university with the embarrassing stigma of not having a single minority head coach or high-level administrator, this could help BC move back in the right direction.

Still nothing even remotely official about this — but we’ll keep an eye out for anything new.