Chris Brooks - Football Coach - James Madison University Athletics

Chris Brooks

Title:
Assistant Director of Athletics Communications
Email:
brookscp@jmu.edu
Phone:
540-568-3702
Physical Address:
Room 2014 (380 University Blvd.) / MSC 0404

Chris Brooks was hired in July 2014 and currently serves as director of athletics communications. In this role, he oversees the day-to-day operations of the communications team while handling primary communications efforts for the JMU football and tennis programs. He's also the webmaster of JMUSports.com and is a liaison from communications to student-athlete services.

He was previously an assistant director from the time of his hiring until April 2018 and an associate director from 2018 until August 2021 when he was elevated to the director role.

Chris is responsible for media guides, game notes, game programs, social media and website updates for his respective teams. He also works with local, regional and national media outlets to promote both programs.

He has been a part of two national championship teams at JMU, including football in 2016 and lacrosse in 2018. Chris also worked with ESPN for all three visits to Harrisonburg for College GameDay (2015, 2017, 2023), facilitating interviews for JMU coaches and players with ESPN talent and providing information to the crew for the shows.

In his first year, he worked with men's basketball, cross country and softball, while serving as the secondary football contact for the 2014-15 academic year. Prior to becoming director, Brooks worked with the lacrosse program from 2016 through 2021.

Previously at JMU, Chris was the athletics communications assistant from August 2010 to September 2011. He was the media contact for men’s and women’s tennis, cross country and track and field with duties that included preview releases and recaps for JMUsports.com and updated schedule pages and statistics daily. In addition to those duties, Chris covered JMU’s women’s soccer, basketball and lacrosse teams during the NCAA championships, providing video and other multimedia content for JMUsports.com.

From July 2013 until July 2014, Chris was the assistant athletic director for operations and media relations at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. As the Assistant AD, Chris oversaw all game operations for home athletic events and the media relations office for the Alaska Nanooks, an NCAA Division II school in Fairbanks, Alaska. While at Alaska, Chris oversaw the behind-the-scenes operation as the tournament chair for the Brice Alaska Goal Rush Division I hockey tournament, the GCI Alaska Invitational Division II men’s basketball tournament and the Mt. McKinley Bank North Star Invitational Division II women’s basketball tournament. He was the primary sports contact for ice hockey, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s Nordic skiing teams and the 10-time NCAA champion rifle program. He also produced multimedia content for Alaska athletics, utilizing YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other various social media platforms to promote their department.

Before becoming the assistant athletic director, Chris was a media relations assistant with the Nanooks from 2011-2013. He primarily worked with men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball and women’s swimming while also assisting with media operations for ice hockey. As part of the social media content, Chris began and produced an online show called Nanook Insider, which airs weekly on alaskananooks.com and on their YouTube page, TheAlaskaNanooks.

As a communications intern with the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in August 2009 to June 2010, Chris served as the primary media contact for field hockey, cross country, swimming and diving, wrestling, women’s lacrosse, rowing and track and field. In addition to that, he updated the CAA website daily with scores, statistics and recaps. During the 2010 CAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships, he wrote recaps for each game and updated the championship pages at the conclusion of each contest.

Chris graduated from George Mason with a Bachelor of Arts in communication. During his time as a student, he was the Assistant Sports Editor for The Broadside (student paper) and covered Mason’s men’s basketball Cinderella run to the Final Four in 2006 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship. He was also employed with the athletics department, working with events staff and ticketing.

Chris is a member of College Sports Communicators and served on a panel on office organization and staffing at the 2014 national convention. He was also previously member of the Goodwill and Wellness committee and participated in the community service project each year. Chris is also a member of the Football Writers Association of America and was a voter on the STATS FCS Top 25 poll before JMU's move to the FBS level in 2022.

Chris resides in Rockingham and has a dog, Cooper. He enjoys traveling, attending sporting events and frequenting Richmond to spend time with family. His younger brother, Tyler, is a double Duke, graduating from JMU in both 2022 and 2024.