James Madison names Virginia native Matt Roan its new athletic director (2024)

After a lengthy search, James Madison officially has its new athletic director.

The school announced on Thursday that Matt Roan will be the new leader of the Dukes' athletic department. Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger reported Tuesday that JMU was targeting Roan to be its new AD.

Roan, who has spent the past four years as the athletic director at Eastern Kentucky, succeeds longtime JMU athletic director Jeff Bourne, who announced in September that he will retire. The school said in a release that Bourne will depart JMU at the end of April.

“This opportunity is special as it represents the ideal intersection of what is most important to me personally and professionally," Roan said in a release. "I look forward to working in alignment with the Board of Visitors and my colleagues as we strive for excellence for the institution and athletics alike. My family and I look forward to making the JMU community home, engaging with the many stakeholders who are passionate about the Dukes, and continuing with the incredible trajectory established by Mr. Jeff Bourne, outstanding student-athletes, coaches and staff.”

Roan has strong ties to the Commonwealth. He grew up in Southwest Virginia and attended Pulaski County High School and Hargrave Military Academy. Roan was a member of the Virginia Tech football team before transferring to Southern Utah University, where he was a three-time All-Great West Football Conference honoree.

After earning his undergraduate degree at Southern Utah in 2007, Roan went on to earn a law degree from the University of Kentucky in 2012. Roan began his college administrative career as the deputy AD at Southern Utah (2012-13) and then Eastern Kentucky (2013-16) before becoming the athletic director at Nicholls State in 2016.

Roan returned to Eastern Kentucky as the athletic director in January of 2020 and held that role until he accepted the AD position at James Madison. During his time at Eastern Kentucky, Roan guided the Colonels' move from the Ohio Valley Conference to the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2021 and helped improve the program's facilities.

Among the upgrades at Eastern Kentucky is a $40 million renovation project for Alumni Coliseum, the home of school's basketball and volleyball programs, which is set to be completed in the fall of 2025.

The school was able to invest in facilities upgrades thanks in part to improved fundraising and revenue generation under Roan, who was able to increase the Eastern Kentucky athletic department's total operating budget by about 50% during his four years in charge.

Now, Roan takes over a James Madison program that is enjoying one of its most successful athletic years in school history. Six JMU teams – men’s soccer, football, men’s basketball, baseball, lacrosse and volleyball – have been ranked or received votes in national top 25 polls this year.

The Dukes' football program, in just its second year in FBS, went 11-2 and played in the program's first bowl game, while the men's basketball team went 32-4, won the Sun Belt Tournament and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Both programs will have new head coaches next season. Bob Chesney will lead the JMU football program after Curt Cignetti left to become the head coach at Indiana, while Preston Spradlin will lead the men's basketball team after Mark Byington's departure for Vanderbilt.

Bourne, who helped both bring both Chesney and Spradlin to Harrisonburg before stepping away into retirement, believes the program that he helped build is in good hands with Roan.

“James Madison Athletics has had unparalleled success throughout my 25 years and particularly recently as our national brand blossomed,” Bourne said in a release. “When we climbed to FBS football and the Sun Belt Conference, we believed that we would not have to sacrifice winning as we ‘leveled up.’

"Now that James Madison is fully reclassified as FBS for the 2024-25 season, Matt Roan is the perfect individual to build upon that success and steer JMU to even greater heights. The university’s emphasis for this hire was pairing the pedigree of an accomplished leader with the fit and culture of our institution, and we feel that we achieved that goal to perfection in this search.”