Jarvis became head coach at Boston University in 1985, becoming the Terriers' all-time winningest coach in five seasons with a 101-50 record. Boston University reached the NCAA Tournament in 1988 and 1990 under Jarvis. He was hired at George Washington in 1990, leading the Colonials to three NCAA tournament appearances, including the Sweet 16 in the 1993 NCAA Tournament, the Colonials' best tournament performance. The team was defeated by the "Fab Five" Michigan Wolverines, who later vacated the entire season due to a scandal with a booster. Jarvis also led the Colonials to two victories over number one ranked UMass, compiling a 143–100 record at George Washington. Jarvis also coached the United States under-22 men's national team in 1993.
St. John's
After the 1998 season, Jarvis accepted the head coaching job at St. John's University after Fran Fraschilla was fired, leading the Red Storm to the Elite Eight in the 1999 NCAA Tournament and the 2000 Big East tournament championship. They won the National Invitation Tournament in 2003. The next season the Red Storm stumbled out of the gate, losing to several nonconference teams that they usually beat with ease. Jarvis was fired on December 19, 2003—the first Big East coach to be fired during the season. Assistant Kevin Clark replaced him for the remainder of the season. His final record at St. John's was 110–61. It later emerged that school officials had fired Jarvis in part due to a series of embarrassing off-court incidents. Among these, a junior college transfer had been charged with assaulting a female student, and a senior guard had been kicked off the team after being caught smoking marijuana near St. John's campus in Queens. During the 2003–04 season, St. John's center Abe Keita claimed that a member of Jarvis's basketball staff had paid him nearly $300 a month for the past four seasons. As a result, St. John's placed itself on two years' probation, withdrew from postseason consideration for the 2004–05 season, and forfeited 43 wins in which Keita participated. This included the team's NIT championship in 2003, making St. John's the third team in the history of the NIT to be forced to vacate its standing in the tournament; the two previous schools, Minnesota and Michigan, had also won the tournament in their respective years. The NCAA accepted St. John's sanctions and faulted Jarvis for not properly monitoring Keita's situation, but otherwise cleared him of wrongdoing. After his ouster, Jarvis was criticized for ignoring New York City's rich pool of high school players, which particularly rankled fans used to seeing national powerhouses built primarily on New York City talent.
Career after St. John's
Jarvis last coached for Florida Atlantic for six seasons. Prior to coming back with the Owls in 2009, Jarvis worked for ESPN as a college basketball commentator, and Yahoo! Sports as their NCAA men's basketball analyst, and continues to work as a speaker and broadcaster. He has written two books: Skills For Life and Everybody Needs A Head Coach.
Head coaching record
College
*Jarvis was fired on December 19, 2003; assistant Kevin Clark finished the season. ** St. John's vacated 47 games from 2000 to 2004 after Abe Keita was ruled ineligible. Official records are 5–15 for 2000–01, 7–11 for 2001–02, 1–13 for 2002–03 and 0–4 for 2003–04. % Official record at St. John's is 66–60 not counting vacated games.
