Ryan Berryman named UNM’s interim athletic director, one of two locals vying to replace Fernando Lovo

Ryan Berryman has been named New Mexico’s interim athletic director following Fernando Lovo’s departure for the University of Colorado, the school announced Tuesday.

Berryman, UNM’s deputy athletic director and chief operating officer, will start Jan. 1. The announcement comes one day after Lovo, UNM’s athletic director for the past 13 months, was named to the same role at Colorado.

“Ryan Berryman brings deep institutional knowledge, steady leadership and a strong commitment to our student-athletes, coaches and staff,” President Garnett S. Stokes said in a news release. “His experience and collaborative approach position him well to guide our athletics program during this transition, and I am confident he will continue to build the momentum of Lobo athletics.”

Additional information about UNM’s search for a permanent athletic director is “forthcoming,” per the release.

Berryman, 32, is one of two deputy ADs who are Albuquerque area natives and have accumulated the vast majority of their college athletics administrative experience while at UNM. Both were key pieces of Lovo's leadership team, and are interested in becoming the permanent athletic director for the school. 

Jalen Dominguez, 40, is deputy AD and chief revenue officer who has spearheaded the Lobo Club's run of  five consecutive record-setting fundraising years for UNM. 

Both have tremendous support internally at UNM, and around the donor community, to get consideration for the job, so the Journal asked the candidates — both of whom happen to be in Boise, Idaho, with the men's basketball team for Tuesday night's Mountain West game against the Boise State Broncos — about the dynamic of needing to work together while both pursuing the now open position. 

Both said in independent conversations with the Journal essentially the same thing: They respect each other, and UNM, far too much to let this become a distraction or an issue.

"I have the utmost respect for the leadership at the University of New Mexico and the process of both selecting the interim and the final decision for a permanent Athletic Director," Dominguez told the Journal. "I am committed to working with our staff, executive team and Ryan to continue to serve our student athletes during this transition and another banner year for Lobo athletics.

"I am proud of the work we have done to build Lobo athletics into what is today. It was not done overnight and I am fully confident that our future is bright. I plan to pursue the position and as a New Mexican I would cherish the opportunity to lead the athletic department of our flagship institution and serve our student athletes, coaches, staff and community."

While Dominguez was already on staff when Lovo was hired, Berryman had left UNM last summer to become the Senior Associate Athletic Director and Chief Financial Officer at the University of Washington, only to have Lovo lure him back to UNM by early 2025.

Like Dominguez, Berryman said UNM Athletics isn't in the position it is in right now without the work of several people, including Dominguez. 

“The reality is, when you work in college athletics, you surround yourself with people who are naturally competitive," Berryman told the Journal. "Every day, we go to work with future head coaches and future AD's. It is part of what makes this industry great.

"With that said, I always want what's best for the University of New Mexico, and will always respect the processes and the people involved in making those decisions. We are fortunate to have an amazing team of administrators at UNM that care deeply about the Lobos.”

A three-time UNM graduate, Berryman has overseen internal operations within the athletic department since March 2025. He has also served as the sports administrator for UNM’s men’s basketball and women’s soccer programs, and was involved in hiring men’s basketball coach Eric Olen and women’s soccer coach Karley Nelson. 

He started his climb at UNM as a student manager for the men's basketball team in 2012 before serving as a student regent from 2015-16. He went to work as the basketball team's director of operations for three years and has worked in some capacity with each of the past five Lobo men's basketball coaches, Olen, Richard Pitino, Paul Weir, Craig Neal and Steve Alford. 

“I am honored by the opportunity to serve the University of New Mexico, my alma mater, in this interim role,” Berryman said in the release. “Lobo athletics has a proud tradition and a strong future. I look forward to working closely with our coaches, student-athletes, staff, campus leadership, and community partners to ensure continuity, stability, and continued progress during this period.”

Dominguez, who played high school basketball in Albuquerque and decided to play for New Mexico State to learn under former Aggies head coach Lou Henson, has an M.A. in Sports Administration from UNM in 2011 and a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from NMSU in 2008.  

While having also worked at UCLA, he's a long-tenured Lobo Club executive who is also the sports administrator for football. In recent years, Dominguez has been the primary liaison between name, image and likeness (NIL) contributions from outside collectives to the newly formed Lobo Alliance, navigating the fundraising obstacles that the past few years of NCAA turmoil have caused. 

UNM is searching for its second athletic director in a 16-month period after Lovo’s departure. His predecessor, Eddie Nuñez, left for the same position at Houston in August 2024, opening up a search that ended with Lovo’s hiring three months later.

In his time with UNM, Lovo notably hired head football coach Jason Eck, who led the Lobos to a historic 9-4 season and the program’s first bowl berth since 2016. He also oversaw a record fundraising run, with the UNM Lobo Club announcing $11.1 million in donations in fiscal year 2025.

Sean Reider covers college football and other sports for the Journal. You can reach him at sreider@abqjournal.com or via X at @lenaweereider. Reach Geoff Grammer at ggrammer@abqjournal.com or follow him on Twitter (X) @GeoffGrammer.