‘Winning makes everything better.’ New EKU A.D. aims for return to football glory.
New Eastern Kentucky University Athletics Director Matt Roan will have a lot on his plate when he officially assumes his duties in early February. But the Virginia native and University of Kentucky School of Law alumnus, who served as deputy director of athletics at EKU in 2015 and 2016, has a clear set of priorities when it comes to one of the Colonels’ most high-profile programs.
Roan, who spent the past three-plus years as director of athletics at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, La., is determined to help guide EKU back to football glory. The Colonels have won 21 Ohio Valley Conference titles, but none since 2011. They’ve been shut out of the postseason since 2014. The program parted ways with head coach Mark Elder, who went 21-24 in four years, at the end of the 2019 season and replaced him with former EKU assistant Walt Wells, who spent the previous two years as a quality control assistant at the University of Kentucky.
Last week Roan spoke with the Herald-Leader about the state of the Colonels’ football program, among other things. Though he didn’t play a role in bringing Wells back to Richmond (that hire was made by EKU interim athletics director Mark Sandy), Roan said he’s confident the Colonels have found the right man for the job.
“Coach Wells and I worked together closely in 2015 when he was part of (former coach) Dean Hood’s staff,” Roan said. “He’s somebody that I got to know and learned to respect. That’s how I can understand his love of Eastern. I think he would tell you that his last couple of years working with (UK Coach) Mark Stoops are what prepared him for this head-coaching opportunity. So I’m excited to work with him.”
Roan was part of the Football Championship Subdivision Playoff Committee this past season. He helped select the playoff field and spent several days in Frisco, Texas, helping stage the national championship game between North Dakota State and James Madison. That experience was an eye-opener for Roan.
“It was a chance to be part of a first-class event. You had two fan bases that packed that place,” he said. “It kind of makes the hair stand up on your arms and makes you think, ‘Hey, we’ve got to get our team there.’ We’ve got to make the investment and make sure we’re doing everything we can in order to get the Colonels there soon.”
So, what will it take to make that push? Roan said a symbiotic relationship with Wells is key.
“For me the first step is listening, because we’ve got the right guy in place,” Roan said. “I don’t think there’s somebody that loves EKU football more. He has an experience being part of a program in Western (Kentucky) that was successful at the FCS level then made the transition to FBS. He’s been part of a program at New Mexico State that looks and feels a lot like Eastern. He’s been at South Florida, where they didn’t really have tradition and they created their own, which I think is important for us to do at this point in time in our history. It’s hearing him tell me what he needs and then the staff and I doing everything we can to secure what it is that he needs.”
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Former EKU athletics director Steve Lochmueller, who resigned in October, prioritized a push for the Colonels to make a jump to the FBS. While Roan isn’t backing away from that goal, he plans to take it one step at a time.
“The priority for me is to be competitive and super successful wherever we are. Before we make any move I want to compete on the national level in the FCS. Not just getting into the field, but making a run,” Roan said. “We haven’t won a playoff game here since 1994. That’s a long time. I want to make sure that we’re getting in and we’re advancing in the FCS tournament. Now, that may lead to opportunities down the road with regard to FBS. But for us, front-of-mind right now is just being successful wherever we are.”
“Winning makes everything better. The best marketer is a successful coach. The alums tend to give more when you’re winning, the fans tend to come out in larger numbers and buy season-ticket packages when you’re winning. We’ve got to make sure that the product on the field matches what our expectations are.”
Showdown with Petrino?
Hours before Roan sat down with the Herald-Leader, news broke that former Louisville coach Bobby Petrino had been hired by Missouri State. Roan expects Petrino to have the school in position to make a run at an FCS postseason berth very soon.
“I think it’s a good hire. He’s a proven coach with a proven track record of success,” Roan said. “I wish them nothing but the best and hopefully we’ll see them in a meaningful game in December or January sometime in the not-too-distant future.”
History with Hamilton
Roan is also familiar with another high-profile Colonels’ coach. In 2009 and 2010 Roan was an assistant football coach at Hargrave Military Academy at the same time EKU men’s basketball coach A.W. Hamilton was an assistant with the Hargrave basketball team.
“Our desks were very close. We could shout at one another, we could yell at each other all day long,” Roan said. “That’s really when I learned to admire his values system, his work ethic and his vision for what he wanted to become as a head coach.”
Roan said he feels privileged to walk into a situation where Hamilton and Wells are leading EKU’s flagship athletics programs.
“Both of them have very bright futures here.”
This story was originally published January 23, 2020 at 11:01 AM.
