Al Wilson

MACO 451

Slug- Nicholls AD Changes

There’s Something in the Water

When Athletic Director Matt Roan was hired to Nicholls State as athletic director in the fall of
2016, the state of Nicholls Athletics could best be described as turbulent. Aside from a perineal
power in Softball, and a consistent program in baseball and women’s basketball the other
sports on campus were dismal to be kind. There were bright spots, as the football team in
Roan’s first year came two points shy of defeating Georgia, an SEC power, and falling just short
of a winning record, which would have been the first since 2011. Aside from the competition
side of athletics, the department also was struggling with organizational issues from the
previous administration, and many of the facilities on campus were outdated and behind on
codes for the conference.

In his introductory press conference, he stated “We going to be ambitious, and we are going to
dream big.” He began the process by hiring coach Richie Riley, a young up and coming
basketball coach to kick start the men’s basketball program. Next, to take an almost non-
existent cross country and track program to relevance, he hired Stephanie Slekis, an energetic
positive coach to give the program stability and an identity. To fix the administrative issue, he
reorganized the department, and hired Lindsey McKaskle as Executive Associate Director for
Internal Affairs, and Senior Women’s Administrator.

Once the foundation was set, Roan met with the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, a group
composed of Student-Athletes, and questioned them on what the athletes needed for success,
and what changes must be done to benefit them. After documenting these, he created a plan
to implant these changes and affect the culture of the department.

Starting in the spring after his arrival the changes started to go into affect. The football turf,
which was over 10 years old, was ripped up and replaced by brand new turf, along with a new
scoreboard which was secured by funding from Roan. The tennis courts were redone, along
with a new basketball court being put down. Softball and Baseball received new turf and
upgrades to the stadiums in order to enhance the fan experience and promote the programs.
He tapped into the community, citing how the positive changes the teams were making to
make them the talk of the town.

Other sports started to feed off of the energy of the new administration and the forward
momentum of the progress as well, and Nicholls Athletics stood as one of the strongest
programs in the Southland Conference this part year. It began on August 31 st, as the football
team defeated rival McNeese to open the new turf, a game winning field goal on a beautiful
Thursday night that would just begin the greatness. The team went on to its best record since
2007 when the team won the conference championship, and hosted it’s first ever playoff game.
The basketball teams were next, with the Men’s Basketball team racing to a regular season
conference championship, and the women’s basketball team winning the conference
championship and earning it’s first ever berth to the NCAA tournament. The year completed
with the baseball team finishing fourth in the conference tournament, and the softball team
winning the regular season championship before falling in the championship game.

The success was unprecedented, it is the first recorded year that Nicholls has won
championships in multiple sports with three, along with all but three athletic team finishing in
the top four in the conference.

Roan credits everyone in the department as responsible for the changes, and cites that without
every component none can function. Yet both athletes, coaches and fans alike have taken
notice. After the conclusion of this past season, a twitter post from fan Thad Angelloz went
viral, and the message was clear, “Ever since Matt Roan has been on campus, there’s been
something in the water at Nicholls.”