AD Matt Roan

[BlueColonel]

This guy is the best thing that has happened to EKU athletics in decades. I went to EKU then transferred to UK about 20 years ago. I remember EKU athletics seemed like an afterthought by school administrators when I was here. Low effort was put into athletics at that time in school history. I was one of the fans that Roan brought in when he partnered with Kentucky Sports Radio last year. I went to homecoming and was shocked to see so many people there. We had a blast. I ended up watching every remaining game either on ESPN+ or in person and it got me interested in FCS football as well. I really hope Roan keeps using the KSR route to market to Kentucky fans as there is a large contingent of that group who actually graduated from EKU or at least attended and I can’t help but think it will bring in more as time goes on.

[ekugrad1970]

He has made a real difference….we gotta keep him

[Colonel12]

I disagree that he is the best thing ever. There seems to have been more controversy since him and the current president took over.

Softball coaches, digital signs, failed FBS move, alumni coliseum renovation delayed.

[Sae]

I disagree that he is the best thing ever. There seems to have been more controversy since him and the current president took over.

Softball coaches, digital signs, failed FBS move, alumni coliseum renovation delayed.

Not sure if he's the best thing ever, but I think he's done a great job. Of your things listed, softball was investigated, FBS move is an ongoing situation that is out of his control but we are taking the steps we can do at this point. In my opinion, the AC, renovation is a smart move, it takes longer but we don't play an entire season on the road, signage being too close to a road, I guess you could say is his problem, but I would think the installation company takes more than him on that. I'm happy we are doing more now than at any time in my life.

[EKULFan]

I agree with C12 about the issues that have come to light under the Roan era...However he has accomplished more than any other AD in modern EKU history with his fund raising skills and political/financial savvy!

The softball situation I think was handled poorly and I have not renewed my Season Tix or donations to SB since the very weak/poor response to Coach Worthington! She needs to go one way or another. She is old school and hasn't a clue about connecting with students and fans to increase attendance at the games which is normally about 65-75 per home contest! Many of which are players family's!

Still puzzled by the AC construction delay! Didn't the KY State Legislature allocate about 31 million for that project?

As for football...It just hasn't been in our DNA to make the move, we were so far behind the other schools in facilities and finances that they blow passed us through the years to FBS!!! Poor AD's, poor, Administrations and some prominent coaches weren't eager to make the move in days gone by!!

Who knows what is next...But I feel like we are the Cincinnati Bearcats of the FBS trying to get into the Ball/P5Game! They did it after many many failures!

[EKU05]

I disagree that he is the best thing ever. There seems to have been more controversy since him and the current president took over.

Softball coaches, digital signs, failed FBS move, alumni coliseum renovation delayed.

Let's break those down:

Softball-She's the longest standing coach on staff, and was hired something like three decades before Roan came on board. You can fault him for not firing her, but ultimately there are procedures to be followed. If the general standard of proof for a "for cause" firing wasn't met, then it wasn't met. I'd have preferred that we move on too, but these things aren't always as simple as we want them to be.

Digital Signs-I'm not sure what you're referring to here, so I won't comment.

Failed FBS move-We were failing at this long before Roan arrived. He can't just snap his fingers and make a conference invite us. If anything, he's at least explored alternative avenues. Holding this against him is absurd.

Renovation Delay-I'm not sure of all the behind the scenes details, but is this his fault? Did we even voluntarily restructure so that we weren't out of the arena for a year? Michael Moreno mentioned in his comments when he decided to return that being in the arena was a factor for him to do so. I'm not sure I even see this delay as a net negative.

You can't name negative things and lay them all at his feet. There has be context for (A) what was happening before and (B) what degree of control does he have over the situation.

[dljordaneku]

The issue with the signs is that the state thinks they are an issue with traffic. Maybe. Maybe not. But to throw that at the AD is absurd. There are two signs in question and only one involved athletics and that is the one in front of AC. The one at Lancaster and the By-pass is not an athletic sign and the university has already agreed to move that one. The one at AC was installed in 1991, way before Roan got here and probably way before some people on this board were involved with EKU. The university believes they had state approval to install that one and the state only came back after the sign was upgraded over the last several months.

WKYT.com story

Register story on the one sign to be moved

dj

[Colonel12]

I believe the Register reported the State is wanting the athletic one removed because it violates a law and either Roan or McFadden, maybe both, said they thought that law didn't apply to them.

[EKU05]

I disagree that he is the best thing ever. There seems to have been more controversy since him and the current president took over.

Softball coaches, digital signs, failed FBS move, alumni coliseum renovation delayed.

I'll add that if I was going to blame Road/McFadden for anything at all I would rate the poorly handled exit from the OVC and the attempt to avoid public records as a much graver offense than anything listed above.

[dljordaneku]

I believe the Register reported the State is wanting the athletic one removed because it violates a law and either Roan or McFadden, maybe both, said they thought that law didn't apply to them.

They said that they already had permission for the sign.

EKU officials say they’ve had permission from the state to build signs on those properties since 1991. So, when EKU finalized the plan to build the most recent one, they were under the impression they still had permission.