JMU softball is off to its worst start in program history, sitting at 0-5 after a rocky opening weekend.

If you go on social media, you’ll find calls for head coach Loren LaPorte to lose her job. Is there any credence to the suggestions to move on from the former JMU assistant under Mickey Dean turned head coach? Is the program in disarray just a few years after LaPorte led the Dukes to a historic 2021 season?

Let’s take a deep dive into JMU softball, which made the Women’s College World Series in 2021 but hasn’t made an NCAA Regional in the three years since and is off to a poor start in 2025.

LaPorte’s contract

JMU Sports News obtained LaPorte’s contract through a FOIA request, and the deal runs through 2029. If JMU moves on from LaPorte prior to the end of the 2029 season, the Dukes will owe her the remainder of the deal. With an annual salary of $120,000, the Dukes would owe LaPorte $480,000 if they let her go after this season.

For comparison, JMU pays men’s basketball head coach Preston Spradlin earns $600,000 annually, with about $450,000 coming directly from the school and another $150,000 from private donors. Women’s basketball coach Sean O’Regan makes a base salary of roughly $280,000.

In short, $480,000 is a lot of money for JMU when it comes to coaching salaries. On paper, JMU looks firmly committed to the program under LaPorte — at least for a few more years.

Are the Dukes ready to walk away from that commitment because of an 0-5 start to the season? Should they be?

The 0-5 start

JMU’s 0-5 start is ugly, but it also came against respectable competition. Georgia is 9-0 and ranked 9th in the latest top 25 poll. UCF is receiving votes, and the Dukes led the Knights late with a great chance to win before a late collapse. NC State is 6-5 and a decent team from the ACC, and the Dukes led the Wolfpack 1-0 after four innings in the second of their two meetings during the opening weekend before fading.

The loss to CSU Bakersfield, which went 5-46 a season ago, drew the most immediate red flags, but this isn’t last year’s team. CSU Bakersfield is off to a 7-5 start this season, and the Roadrunners have a win over Illinois from the Big Ten to their name this spring.

“The players are owning it, and that’s the most important part, and staying within themselves and not getting super distracted by having the weekend that we did,” LaPorte told Dave Riggert on Feb. 12.

Listen to my weekly conversation with James Madison Softball coach Loren LaPorte as we recap opening weekend for the Dukes down in Orlando.

🔊 https://t.co/AK4BMdcgMb@JMUSoftball | @Coach_LaPorte pic.twitter.com/rafHqRN1SS

— Dave Riggert (@DaveRiggert) February 12, 2025

The Dukes would’ve competed with (and probably beat) those types of programs during Dean’s tenure. There’s no denying JMU is playing worse softball than 5-10 years ago, although some of the opening weekend losses weren’t as bad as they might’ve seemed originally. JMU was also without junior catcher Bella Henzler (.347 batting average and 11 home runs in 2024) for the five-game weekend.

“Overall, I was happy with our pitching,” LaPorte said. “If you take a look at the games and look at the scores, we could’ve won three of those games. We were in those games. All we needed was some rhythm in our offense and a timely hit here and there.”

In fairness to LaPorte skeptics, JMU’s program has seemingly dipped in the last few years. What’s the cause?

The portal?

Is this decline in play a result of the new transfer portal rules making it impossible for mid-major teams to compete? Sadly, that excuse doesn’t hold up as much for softball as it might for other sports.

While NCAA transfer rule changes in 2021 led to widespread transfer movement among football and basketball teams, that’s not entirely true for softball. While men’s basketball and football players were previously required to sit out a year before being eligible at their new school, softball allowed players to transfer freely prior to 2021. Houston was celebrating the addition of a Louisiana transfer back in 2010!

The legality of NIL deals is a recent change that impacts transferring, though.

Would Megan Good or Odicci Alexander have transferred if they gained a national spotlight early in their careers and an SEC team came calling with an NIL offer? It’s possible.

It’s a challenge for LaPorte and company to keep their best players in the modern era of college sports, but it’s not impossible. JMU football, men’s and women’s basketball, lacrosse, etc. have all found success. It’s possible to win in Harrisonburg in the modern era of college sports because JMU’s NIL budget, resources, etc. surpass most G5 teams.

Even with players like KK Mathis (Duke) leaving, how often do JMU fans love to say the portal works both ways? JMU added Payton List from Virginia Tech prior to last season, and she’s among the team’s top pitching options and a two-way player with power at the plate. The transfer portal hasn’t doomed JMU’s program.

What’s the standard?

JMU fans expecting annual return trips to the Women’s College World Series may not have properly appreciated the 2021 team. Odicci Alexander pitched at a National Player of the Year standard in the postseason, and Kate Gordon and Sara Jubas were two of the best hitters to ever go through the program. Gordon is the program’s all-time leader in home runs (71) and RBIs (200).

JMU’s 2021 team had program greats at multiple positions, including the most important spot on the field.

It’s hard for any program to consistently find unheralded recruits at the level JMU did from 2010-2020. The Dukes went from Jailyn Ford to Megan Good to Odicci Alexander in the circle. All of them played professionally after graduating from JMU.

The Dukes’ standard isn’t going to be making a Super Regional or the WCWS annually, but it’s a fair ask for an athletic department of JMU’s caliber to field a team that is in the mix for an NCAA Regional appearance every year. They did that during Mickey Dean’s time leading the program and for the first three full seasons of LaPorte, which even included two Super Regional appearances.

So why would the wheels fall off AFTER making the WCWS? Shouldn’t that lead to a massive recruiting boost?

The real challenges

The Dukes are objectively worse than they were in 2021 and most other seasons in the Mickey Dean era. But they’re not as bad as some fans claim.

They switched conferences in 2022, and the Sun Belt is much better than the CAA. That’s an underrated part of the program’s recent shortcomings.

In 2024, UNCW made an NCAA Regional out of the CAA. The Seahawks finished the season with an RPI of 94. The Dukes, who failed to make an NCAA Regional, ended last year with an RPI of 67. If JMU was still in the CAA, there’s a case to be made that the Dukes make an NCAA Regional appearance or two during this same three-year span. JMU softball’s on-paper resume is lacking mostly because of the zero NCAA Regional appearances since the WCWS. Winning the CAA was usually a cakewalk (or much closer to it than winning the SBC) when it came to earning an automatic bid into the field.

As for the team dipping in its actual performance — the 2021 team was legitimately one of the best in the country — the recruiting isn’t consistently producing national standouts like it was a few years ago. It doesn’t take an expert to throw on a game and realize the last few teams haven’t been as good as the 2021 team or the 2016 squad.

Part of that could be attributed to a few highly touted recruits not panning out. Softball and baseball recruits also often commit to schools well before the end of their high school careers, meaning the Dukes haven’t fully reaped the recruiting benefits of the 2021 run yet. JMU’s current freshmen and future recruiting efforts look promising, and the sophomore class has quality players, too.

It also can’t be discounted that a beloved player, Lauren Bernett, died at the end of the 2022 season. The news of Bernett’s death was a significant blow to the JMU sports community, and a tragic event players and coaches had to work through in the months and years following. It’s not easy to lose a teammate.

Managing both a conference change and grieving the loss of a teammate was a massive undertaking in 2023. It’s impossible to quantify how Bernett’s death impacted the program, but losing a well-respected team leader obviously hurt everyone in and around the team.

Another factor is the increased investment in softball across Virginia. UVA opened a new stadium in 2020, and the Cavaliers beat No. 4 UCLA on Sunday. They’re playing like a top-25 caliber team a few years after their major facility upgrades led to improved recruiting and fan support.

Virginia Tech and Liberty have both poured resources into softball, and the two squads are ranked in the latest top 25. Each side has key contributors from the Commonwealth. It’s become more challenging to recruit in Virginia in recent seasons.

Walk it off Hoos!

MC Eaton with the two-run shot to lift the Hoos over No. 4 UCLA!#GoHoos | #HoosNext pic.twitter.com/UrplITHoL8

— Virginia Softball (@UVASoftball) February 16, 2025

Not the time to move on from LaPorte

Wanting to hire a new coach is a normal fan reaction in response to JMU softball’s middling records, but it would be shocking if JMU fired LaPorte midseason or even after the 2025 season barring a scandal within the program.

Her contract runs through 2029, and the athletic department has shown itself more than content to allow the baseball team to work through its average seasons. The patience paid off with an NCAA Regional appearance in 2024.

LaPorte deserves a chance to bring the team back to a regional and beyond, especially when the pitching staff has four key underclassmen with sophomores List and Kirsten Fleet and freshmen Taylor and Madalyn Johnson. The Dukes have a decent amount of young talent capable of leading a turnaround both in 2025 and in future seasons.

JMU is still finding recruiting success, landing a solid six-member 2025 class and earning the commitment of a top-100 in-state prospect (Bella Moussa) in the 2026 class.

Next 4💜💜 Extremely blessed to announce my verbal commitment to JMU! @JMUSoftball @LadyLightningG2 @Org_LLG @LLG_MW @LLGCOACH @midlotrojansb pic.twitter.com/Ia194eZoVg

— Bella Moussa (@Bella_Moussa1) October 17, 2024

Given the importance of maximizing every dollar in the current age of college sports — revenue-sharing is coming — it would be borderline administrative malpractice for a mid-major program to pay multiple seasons of a buyout to its softball coach because it’s chasing the unrealistic dream of regularly making the WCWS.

JMU fans love softball and are a passionate bunch. But from a financial standpoint, are there going to be major differences in donations or ticket sales if JMU softball wins 20 games this season and misses an NCAA Regional or wins 35 and makes one? Probably not.

And if JMU did decide to fire its WCWS-appearing head coach, who are the Dukes hiring that would clearly be an upgrade? LaPorte is an experienced option with ties to Virginia and strong ties to JMU. She’s a proven coach who played an important role in JMU’s success under Dean and immediately after his departure.

If JMU softball gets through 2027 or 2028 and LaPorte still hasn’t taken the program back to a regional, then fire up the hot seat. If she gets through 2029 without going back, her contract likely won’t be renewed.

But prematurely firing coaches isn’t a good idea for JMU’s prospects of long-term success in any sport, but especially not in an Olympic sport. It sends a horrible message to future coaching candidates if a school bails on an accomplished former assistant/head coach with four years left on their contract because they aren’t pleased with a few seasons of average but not great on-field play. Those seasons also featured major challenges, including the death of a beloved player in Lauren Bernett.

Patience is needed with LaPorte and the softball program. Don’t hit the panic button just yet.

Photo courtesy of JMU Athletics Communications