Roan Optimistic About Future Of College Athletics

NEW ORLEANS, La. — Matt Roan knows that the college athletics landscape is changing.

It’s something he’s known during his career as an athletic director at three different programs.

He saw it at Southern Utah, then again at Eastern Kentucky and it’s on full display as he acclimates himself with James Madison.

While today’s version of college sports will likely be different than the one seen a year from now, Roan remains optimistic about what it’ll continue to become.

“Do I think college athletics are perfect?” Roan said. “No. Do I think the changes that we’re making are making them more perfect? I’m optimistic that we are.”

Roan added that many of the issues facing college athletics were caused by the community itself.

While issues like NIL continue to plague different aspects of college sports, Roan believes there are already smart and capable people in place who can help fix the ongoing problems.

JMU’s new AD wants to see the college athletics space thrive and succeed.

To him, college sports are the best way to develop individuals both on and off the field.

“There’s ways that we can make college athletics continue to thrive because, at the end of the day, I see incredible value in the college athletics enterprise,” Roan said. “I think it is the best personal development enterprise that there is in our country.”

In Roan’s day-to-day life, he’s primarily working with young adults ranging from 18 to 22.

Watching the growth of student-athletes throughout their time in college is something Roan said is the most rewarding part of his job.

While the changing landscape of college sports seems to continue with each passing day, Roan does believe that things are slowly starting to take shape. It’s not as crazy today as it was yesterday, and he believes as more time passes, there’ll be a better grip on the enterprise.

Even though there’s a better understanding of the landscape now, Roan said there’s still a significant amount of change occurring that needs attention.

“We’re probably seeing more change, more rapidly than we ever have,” Roan said. “I feel kind of operating from a position of strength in the fact that all I’ve ever known, as I’ve sat in an AD chair at three different institutions, is change.”

Roan’s experience isn’t the only thing that JMU has on its side.

The athletic director also pointed to Jennifer Phillips, the senior associate athletics director for student-athlete development at JMU, and her appointment to the NCAA Division I Council and the Division I Strategic Vision and Oversight Committee as a bonus for JMU.

Roan himself was previously a member of the Division I Council, representing Eastern Kentucky and the Atlantic Sun before accepting the athletic director job at JMU.

Phillips, who was named the Sun Belt representative last month, will have a front-row seat and voice in the growth and changes at the Division-I level. A person on the inside isn’t something every school gets the chance at, and Roan understands that.

“We’re finding out what’s being discussed sometimes before the rest of the world knows,” Roan said. “Certainly we’re respecting the role that she has to play on that committee, but I think we know what’s going on. We’re planning every single day, working every single day for where we are, but we’re also planning and working for where things could go.”

When it comes to football specifically, one area of change that remains ongoing is the divide between the Power Four and Group of Five conferences. Between funding, NIL and the transfer portal, Power Four teams have a leg up against schools like JMU.

With that divide, there have been more conversations about the Group of Five breaking off and creating a separate playoff and separate polls. While those two topics have been floated around, both Roan and Sun Belt Commissioner Keith Gill don’t support the idea of moving away from the Power Four.

Gill, who spoke during Sun Belt Media Day, said the Sun Belt is fully invested in the College Football Playoff, which is expanding to 12 teams this season. The new version of the CFP also guarantees that G5 will be represented by at least one team.

The SBC commissioner was firm in his belief that the conference does “not seek greatness with caveats. We just seek greatness.”

Roan was happy with Gill’s opinion on a separate G5 playoff and shares the same mindset as him.

“I think when you start to talk about separate polls and separate championships, you’re creating that line of demarcation on your own,” Roan said. “Let’s do everything in our power to stay under that same umbrella that, really, the only difference in our opinion between the SEC and the SBC is one letter, right? We want to be under that same umbrella, competing for the same championships and being recognized nationally in the same way.”