RICHMOND, KY (October 13, 2023) – Eastern Kentucky University President David McFaddin and Vice President and Director of Athletics Matt Roan agreed today to a contract extension for Roan to remain at the helm of EKU Athletics through 2027.
"EKU Athletics has experienced significant growth and expansion under the leadership of VP and Director of Athletics Matt Roan," said EKU President David McFaddin. "He not only has elevated the EKU Athletics brand, but he has also done so with a focus on the institutional values of the University - providing an excellent experience for our student-athletes, our student body, our alumni and our fans."
Roan, whose contract was previously extended in April 2021, will begin his fifth year at EKU, after being named to the position in February 2020. In his role, Roan serves as a member of the President's Cabinet and recently began a four-year term on the NCAA's Division I Council and Division I Football Oversight Committee.
"I would like to thank President McFaddin, the Board of Regents, and the entire campus community for the trust and confidence placed in me, which I've strived daily to earn, to lead EKU Athletics in these unprecedented times within intercollegiate athletics," Roan said. "I am proud of how much has been accomplished, and I am excited by how much more we can achieve. The potential here is tremendous. I look forward to working with our various stakeholders to continue focusing on priorities to fulfill our vision of becoming nationally recognized. On behalf of my wife Mallory and our family, who are EKU's biggest fans, we are grateful to continue to be part of the Colonel family."
A former Division I student-athlete and a licensed attorney, Roan returned to EKU in February 2020 after leading the Nicholls State University athletics department from November 2016 through January 2020. At his first Board of Regents meeting, Roan was tasked with improving Athletics' marketing efforts, increasing student attendance and community service, and improving facilities. The Department of Athletics has accomplished this and much more.
Leadership
Upon his arrival in Richmond, Roan was almost immediately forced to navigate COVID-19. Roan worked closely with campus and other health experts and to date, EKU Athletics has not had a contest or event canceled due to issues within any of its programs. Under his leadership, the EKU Athletics Change Coalition was created during the summer of 2020, whose charge was and remains to focus on discussion, education and action in the diversity, equity and inclusion space inside Athletics. That fall, Roan created a nine-game "Season of Opportunity" for EKU Football with two games broadcast nationally on ESPN and FS1, ultimately culminating with the NCAA-approved inaugural Opportunity Bowl hosted, and won, by EKU.
The organizational structure has been strategically evolving and is now focused on engagement, experience, investment and participation, and competitive excellence, with Roan adding several full-time positions in strategic and emerging areas, bolstering and maximizing coaching staffs, and developing new executive and senior leadership teams. In particular, Roan has been committed to expanding health and well-being resources available to EKU student-athletes. In addition to bolstering the Bratzke Student-Athlete Academic Success Center, Sports Medicine and Sports Performance staffs, in early 2023 Roan hired the department's first-ever Director of Student-Athlete Mental Health and Performance Services. The recent launch of the Complete Colonel program, which prioritizes community service, academics, supporting one another, leadership development and university engagement, further evidences the commitment to the holistic student-athlete experience. Colonel student-athletes routinely give back to local schools and community organizations, logging nearly 1300 community service hours during the most recent academic year.
Roan has hired a total of five head coaches since arriving in Richmond. In the second year under Head Coach Jeff Patton, Beach Volleyball has since shattered the program record for wins in a season and posted a winning record in the regular season for the first time ever; in two seasons, Head Coach Greg Todd has led the Women's Basketball program to the most wins in seven years and its first postseason victory since 2016-17; and in his second year, Baseball's Head Coach, Chris Prothro, led the team to 38 victories, the most since 1990, a division championship, and the ASUN tournament semifinals. Roan has also been successful in executing extensions for several other head coaches.
Effective July 1, 2021, Roan led EKU's transition into the Atlantic Sun Conference, which has allowed EKU to more effectively engage with prospective students and alumni in and around thriving cities in a growing part of the country. The 2022-23 athletics campaign saw the Colonel Tennis programs return to varsity competition following their suspension in spring 2018, as Roan reinstated the programs in December 2021. 2023 marks the first year EKU will play football in the newly-branded United Athletic Conference, a collection of schools from the ASUN and Western Athletic Conference.
Growth
On the facilities front, Roan has led the construction of an all-new on-campus beach volleyball facility, the repurposing of the former student recreation center into the Erdmann Olympic Sports Training Center (XC/T&F and Soccer) and the Moberly Building into a football operations center, the installation of a new surface and lights at Tom Samuels Track, all-new turf and lights at Roy Kidd Stadium and new turf at the Presnell practice facility, entirely new turf at Earle Combs Stadium (Baseball), and new Daktronics video boards for EKU Baseball and Softball. The highlight, however, has been the announcement of at least a $31.35 million renovation to Alumni Coliseum and Baptist Health Arena to begin in March 2024.
These investments and the overall financial strength of EKU Athletics have been made possible largely because of the tremendous momentum in an increase in ticket sales, philanthropy and partnerships. With the return of ticket and sponsorship sales back in-house as components of Athletics, between FY20 and FY22, the following percentage increases have occurred:
Continuing the upward trajectory and with a desire to Elevate Eastern, during 2022 Roan helped secure a lead arena naming rights investment of $2.5 million from Baptist Health and a $1.15 million football field naming investment from CG Bank.
Colonel Nation and the Maroon Platoon continue to show up and show out and be treated to best-in-class game day experiences, as Football ranked 11th nationally in total attendance during 2022 and 16th in average attendance with the highest student attendance since 2016, Men's Basketball led the ASUN in average attendance during 2022-23 (first time leading the conference in school history) and increased overall attendance 17% over the previous season, Women's Basketball saw a 30% increase in 2022-23 over the previous year, and Softball increased 28% from '22 to '23 on top of a 29% increase from '21 to '22. EKU Baseball attendance rose 43% in 2022 over 2021 and 28% over 2019.
Excellence
In the classroom, the Colonels have achieved excellence under Roan's watch. Spring 2023 was the 23rd consecutive semester with a combined student-athlete GPA above 3.00. Other highlights include:
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Highest single-semester GPA on record (3.36) in spring 2020
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Spring 2022 GPA of 3.239 was the second-highest cumulative S-A GPA in department history
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3.20 GPA in spring 2023 with 16 of 18 programs earning a 3.0 or better, 67 student-athletes earning a 4.0, 104 making the Dean's List, and 236 Colonel Scholars
The Colonels have also been successful in competition. Women's Cross Country won the 2020-21 OVC Championship, while the men's program won the ASUN title in 2022 and Head Coach Cory Erdmann earned conference coach of the year honors both times. Men's Basketball's 22-7 record in 2020-21 produced the highest winning percentage since 1964-65, the fourth most total wins in program history, and the most conference wins (15) ever in a season. 2022-23 saw EKU Hoops finish with 23 wins, the third most in one season in program history, and advance to the championship game of the College Basketball Invitational. Softball won the 2021 OVC Softball Tournament Championship and advanced to the Knoxville Regional. EKU Football won the 2022 ASUN Championship and earned the ASUN-WAC postseason automatic qualifier into the NCAA Division I Football Championship, participating for the first time since 2014. Head Coach Walt Wells earned ASUN Conference Coach of the Year for 2021 and 2022.
Individually, Ragga Kristinsdottir competed at the 2022 NCAA Women's Golf Championships Ann Arbor Regional, finishing inside the top 30, and numerous track and field student-athletes have competed at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Most notably, Ahmed Jaziri won the national championship in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. During Roan's tenure, EKU student-athletes have accumulated 37 individual academic awards and the following athletic accomplishments:
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42 All-Conference awards
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4 All-Region awards
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12 All-Americans
For academic year 21-22, six teams earned perfect single-year NCAA Academic Progress Rate scores, while EKU student-athletes earned a 88% NCAA Graduation Success Rate the same year.
Finally, in this new era of intercollegiate athletics, Roan spearheaded the launch of the One of One initiative in June 2021 in anticipation of Kentucky's executive order regarding Name, Image and Likeness, and has since partnered with industry leaders and the local Maroon Fund collective to lead among EKU's peers in this space.
Roan received his bachelor's degree from Southern Utah University and earned his Juris Doctor at the University of Kentucky. He and his wife, Mallory, have four children: Gigi, Radley, Catcher and Shepard.
