James Madison has fired head coach Mickey Matthews after 15 seasons with the program, the school announced on their athletics site.
Mickey Matthews fired as JMU football head coach
One playoff berth in the last five years was not enough for the former AFCA Coach of the Year.
Patrick McDermott
Matthews was first hired by the program in 1999, turning a team that had gone 3-8 the year before into a conference champion, finishing the regular season at 8-4 and making it to the playoffs. The Dukes made the playoffs six times in his 15-year run, most notably in 2004, when they won the FCS Championship -- the school’s only such title.
After the team moved to the Colonial Athletic Association in 2007, the Dukes started a slow wind down to mediocrity. James Madison won eight and 12 games, respectively, in playoff seasons through their first two years in the conference, but have made the postseason just once in the past five seasons.
In 2010, Matthews made national news when his Dukes beat No. 13 Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, becoming the second-ever FCS team to beat a ranked FBS school. James Madison finished 6-5 that season.
The final straw came this season, when James Madison finished 6-6 after losing their final three games of the year, finishing ninth in the conference.
James Madison has been Matthews’s only head coaching gig, and he holds a 109-70 career record with the school. The Dukes have not had a losing season since 2002.
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