NMSU hires new athletic director

The Aggies have their new leader.

Joe Fields, the 39-year-old deputy athletic director and chief operating officer at the University of Tulsa, has been selected as the 24th athletic director of New Mexico State University.

“The future is bright for NMSU, and my family and I are thrilled to become part of the Aggie community,” Fields said in a school release. “We’re ready to get to work and build on the proud tradition of Aggie Athletics.”

Fields officially begins his new role in Las Cruces on Oct. 8. Salary and contract details have not been released and an official introductory press conference has not yet been announced.

Fields joined Tulsa in August 2024 with 20 years’ experience in college athletics. He played football at Syracuse University from 2004 to 2007, earning All-Big East Conference honors at safety.

“Aggie fans are going to love what Joe brings to the table,” said Justin Bannister, NMSU’s chief of staff who chaired the search committee for the new AD, a search also handled through a contract with Parker Executive Search, a higher ed and coaching search firm based in Georgia.

“(Fields has) been a student-athlete and an administrator, so he has unique insight into the full experience of college athletics,” Bannister said.

Fields was a star safety at Syracuse and practiced with the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, though never played. He began working at Syracuse in 2008 before joining Texas A&M University in 2017, where he worked his way up to deputy AD. He transitioned to Tulsa’s No. 2 in athletics in August 2024, including overseeing the day-to-day operations of the department and serving as the sports administrator for the Golden Hurricane football team.

“Joe Fields is first and foremost devoted to the overall excellence of our student-athletes,” said NMSU President Valerio Ferme in NMSU’s release. “He brings integrity and humility to the role, and his qualifications as a former athlete, leader of athletes and competitor will help shape and lead our Athletics programs into their next chapter.

“In my conversations with him, he has stressed the need to support our athletes holistically. I know that his focus will be the overall success of our student-athletes, so they are achieving in the classroom as much if not more than they are in the athletics arena.”

Fields’ hire comes nearly 10 months after Ferme, on his first day on the job, fired longtime Athletic Director Mario Moccia, saying he chose to do so “after carefully reviewing the (December 2024) report issued by the New Mexico Department of Justice” that detailed concerns about misconduct and hazing allegations related to the men’s basketball program, but also “institutional deficiencies that allowed that misconduct to go unaddressed by leaders inside the university.”

Moccia had been cleared of any wrongdoing or responsibility by multiple internal investigations by the school prior to Ferme’s hire.

Amber Burdge was tabbed by Ferme to be the acting athletic director after the Jan. 2 firing of Moccia. Burdge, who expressed interest in the permanent AD job, was not among the finalists. She will return to her role as deputy AD for strategic initiatives and leadership, the job Moccia hired her to do in August 2024.

Fields was one of four finalists who interviewed for the job, including NMSU Deputy AD/COO Braun Cartwright, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Athletic Director Josh Moon and McNeese State Athletic Director Heath Schroyer.

Fields earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education and a master’s degree in instructional design, development, and evaluation from Syracuse.

He and his wife, Sade, have two sons, Joseph and Jode, and one daughter, Jade.