New UNM Athletics Director gets his own cherry blazer moment

Ryan Berryman owes his mom, Jennifer, a nice dinner.

And maybe a check paying her back for that Lobo basketball camp she signed him up for a couple decades ago — setting him down a path that culminated Friday with UNM President Garnett S. Stokes placing on his shoulders both a ceremonial cherry blazer as the 15th Vice President and Director of Athletics at the University of New Mexico and also the immense responsibility of running a department in the most volatile era ever for college athletics.

Of course that Lobo basketball camp wasn’t the only benchmark moment along the way for the 32-year-old Berryman, who is the second youngest AD among the nation's 136 Football Bowl Subdivision-level universities.

"I could have never imagined that a journey that started by sitting next to (former Lobo basketball star) Hugh Greenwood in music appreciation class would bring me here today," Berryman said Friday.

Greenwood, always dishing out assists, encouraged his then-classmate to apply for an open student manager position with the basketball team. But first came the grueling process of convincing the hard-to-impress, no-nonsense student manager guru Kevin McCurdy that he was worthy of the position.

"I probably had to hire him, I can't remember, but now I'm glad I decided to do it," McCurdy joked Friday, in attendance for his friend’s big day almost 15 years after agreeing to give him the honor of washing dirty practice jerseys. "Look at him now."

Berryman replaces Fernando Lovo, who in December left after 13 months on the job for the same position at the University of Colorado. In his brief stint in Albuquerque, the department flourished, and Berryman on Friday offered plenty of praise to his now friend.

"He empowered me for this moment," Berryman said of Lovo. "He treated me as a future Athletics Director and brought me into every conversation and prepared me for this moment."

Stokes called Berryman's hire "the ground zero of a new era of Lobo Athletics," adding the university community has been making major investments into facilities and the culture of winning and optimism around the department is growing.

"Ryan Berryman's roots run deep in Lobo Nation," Stokes said, offering a brief background of his path from East Mountain High School to the student manager days, his three degrees from UNM, his being a student regent and his rapid ascension in the administrative ranks at UNM, starting when he became becoming the Director of Operations for Craig Neal's Lobos.

"Most importantly, he's always been a fan," Stokes said. "Cherry and silver turns out to be his blood type."

For Berryman, the realization of not becoming a Lobo basketball player quickly turned to a dream of being in the position he is in now — running Lobo Athletics.

"My journey in college athletics started as a $500 per semester student manager, tasked with keeping uniforms clean, Gatorade cups full and game film broken down," Berryman said. "College athletics changed my life, and I believe in its ability to change many more."

He's getting paid more than $500 a semester now, (see contract terms later in this article) and the responsibilities have grown from laundry to overseeing a $60 million annual budget for a department with more than 400 student athletes.

Between trying to convince state lawmakers to help fund a massive football stadium overhaul, navigating the treacherous waters of a new college football and basketball landscape with revenue sharing for athletes and the constant turnover of player rosters and coaching staffs, Berryman's unquestioned love and devotion for the job doesn't mean it's an easy one.

Nor does his distinction as the highly-popular, local and internal candidate who has built a reputation over the past decade-plus of being someone athletes and colleagues can turn to for help for a wide variety of issues. In fact, being the department's good guy will now require him to sometimes play the part of the bad guy maybe more than he's ever had to do.

"It's something that I've experienced before," Berryman said, acknowledging the shift in roles can be a challenging one if not prepared. "I think when I went from being a peer within the locker room to my student athletes to even becoming a coach, right, you learn to say no. And I think gradually in this profession, that ability progresses as you get deeper in this profession. So certainly, something I'm prepared for. I enjoy being a nice guy more than I enjoy being the bad guy, but it comes with the territory, and I'm prepared for that."

Maybe most important in his new role, and arguably most lacking on his resume, is a role as a primary fundraiser.

And when asked by the Journal about that, and the importance of it for a program like UNM just to stay competitive with peers, let alone try and grow to new levels, Berryman was quick to name a colleague he hopes to keep at UNM — one who was also a finalist for the job in Deputy AD Jalen Dominguez, the man who has been at the forefront of six-consecutive years of record breaking fundraising at UNM.

"It starts with a great team and Jalen Dominguez, who is on our team at set records year after year in those spaces — that can't stop," Berryman said. "We have to continue to pursue new avenues of revenue to continue to advance this department forward."

What's the deal?

Berryman and the university do not, as of yet, have a signed contract for his new role.

Via an Inspection of Public Records Act request, the Journal obtained a copy of the "Memorandum of Understanding Offer" that Berryman was given when asked to interview for the job. 

It was the same MOU issued to other finalists who were interviewed and laid out the salary, benefits and other "material terms and conditions" of the job "should (UNM) offer you this position."

The same MOU terms were given to all finalists invited to interview, and, as such, there was a $40,000 moving expenses allowance included on the terms sheet meant to apply to out of state candidates.

Not in need of any moving expenses, Berryman is hoping to have the university agree to reallocate that money to another project within his department.

Among the terms of Berryman's new gig are the following:

• Five-year contract that can be extended by two years at the UNM President's discretion after three years

• $400,000 base salary

• $100,000 in supplemental compensation for media obligations, public appearances and general program and university promotion obligations

• $50,000 in potential incentive bonuses for certain fiscal, academic and on-field/court achievements

• Same benefits package otherwise as all UNM contract employees

• If Berryman is fired without cause, UNM will owe him half the remaining base salary on his contract

• If Berryman chooses to leave, he will owe UNM half of his remaining base salary as a buyout

• Berryman is not allowed to "seek or apply for other positions without prior notice."

Reach Geoff Grammer at ggrammer@abqjournal.com or follow him on Twitter (X) @GeoffGrammer.