Bourne, JMU: 'A Perfect Match'

HARRISONBURG — Throughout his two-decade stay as athletic director at James Madison, Jeff Bourne had chances to leave.

Just like the bigger schools with more money to spend have come after Bourne’s coaches who achieved success, those universities couldn’t neglect trying to hire the man who put those coaches in place.

“I won’t go into who they are, but two standout,” Bourne said. “They were really great opportunities, but again, you look at them and say they were good opportunities for where they are now. I’m not sure they were great opportunities for where they were then.

“And those could’ve gone either way. It depended on the institutions and I’ve looked at other places that have gone through two or three presidents and you just never know what you’re going to get with the administration, and if people don’t think if that relationship and that support is important, it really determines whether you sink or swim.”

Bourne said one of the reasons he hasn’t left is because he’s enjoyed the working relationships he’s had with administrators like senior vice president Charlie King, who has enabled Bourne to build the department he’s wanted.

Another is because of his family — Bourne’s wife, Mary Lou Bourne, is a Harrisonburg native and went to Harrisonburg High School before the two met on the ski slopes of Massanutten while they students at Bridgewater College. Their kids grew up here, they graduated from JMU and Bourne said there was never a job elsewhere that could match or surpass what he had, professionally, leading the Dukes and what the Valley provided him and his family.

“It’s been a great area for us and even though there were other options; once in a while you say it’s a perfect match between the individual and the institution,” Bourne said. “And I wouldn’t have stayed 20 years if that weren’t the case.

“I love the people I work with everyday. I come into the office and then the people that are here, the student-athletes, the coaches, my colleagues across campus, and there’s a lot to be said for when you pick up the phone, you call someone and you know them. They’re friends and colleagues at the same time, and you can make some pretty special things happen when you have those types of relationships. So this has been an ideal scenario for us as a family. We’ve loved it and I don’t think 20 years ago we would’ve offered or hoped for me.”

Mary Lou couldn’t be prouder.

She said she was happy to be with Jeff when he was recognized as the Under Armour FCS Athletic Director of the Year in 2017 and that she was thrilled to watch JMU football win a national championship a few years ago and to be in Frisco, Texas, to see and mingle with alums and fans celebrating. She said she felt like family to the lacrosse program when that team had her at its end-of-year banquet on the heels of winning a national title.

“And Jeff never wanted to leave a good situation that was going strong to something that was incredibly unknown,” said Mary Lou, who also works at the school as the director for technology innovation and economic development.

And the two, who celebrated their 37th wedding anniversary this month, both said they couldn’t have found a better place to grow together.

Mary Lou said as demanding as Jeff’s work can be, he’s always found ways to disconnect from it in order to be better when the job requires him to.

“One of the reasons why Jeff has been so successful and has had the longevity in not just the industry, but at one place is because he can flip the switch and not let stuff eat at him,” she said. “And one way he does that is cooking. About 10, 15 years ago, he became the chef and I’m a great sous chef for him, but you’ll see him out at the grocery store and he’s very competent with all of that and that’s his release because he can control the food. He can control the cooking process. You can’t control everything that goes on during a day-to-day basis.”

According to Mary Lou, Jeff makes a great chicken piccata. She said he likes to use a fancy kitchen appliance that features a pasta maker, too.

Bourne has other hobbies to keep him sane also — biking, fly fishing, golfing and skiing — and those are all things he said he wants to do when he eventually decides to step away from James Madison.

“And he’s a very good golfer,” Mary Lou said. “He can not play for eight months and then hit 76 or 78, and skiing we love to do and still do, and biking. We don’t do it here, but when we go on vacation we do, so I don’t think he’s one of those people that’ll get bored once he retires because there are so many activities that he loves.”

Bourne is only two years into a $257,088-a-year contract that runs through June 30, 2022, so he won’t have to make decisions anytime soon about whether or not to sign an extension or move on.

“Mary Lou and I talked about it, and my contract is up in three years, so I’d say three years,” Bourne said. “And if it’s any longer than that it won’t be much longer.

“We want to spend time around our family, but I don’t want to just leave athletics, so I’ll probably go do some consulting for a couple of years. But there’s a lot of things I want to do at different times of the year that I’m not able to do in this job, and I want to be able to enjoy those things while my health is still good.”

But as Bourne looks back at the last 20 years and everything JMU’s athletic department has achieved over the two decades with him at the helm, he can’t do it without mentioning how Mary Lou was there through it all.

“Jeff Bourne is not able to do a tenth of what he’s able to do if it’s not for Mary Lou,” he said. “Because as all of us know, at the end of the day if you go home frustrated or excited or go home not sure, a lot of the constructive feedback you get is from your spouse. She’s the backbone of our family and she, for me, is that steady person I’ve been able to go to and get good perspective.

“She’s been around this industry long enough that she gets it and she’s a good judge of people, so she’s been very helpful to me in everything that I’ve been able to accomplish and no way do I get to accomplish what I’ve been able to without her help. It’s team Bourne back there.”

Editor's Note: This is the last of a four-story series chronicling Jeff Bourne's 20 years as athletic director at James Madison.