UNM baseball coach Brown signs extension through 2029

Tod Brown’s first three seasons as University of New Mexico baseball coach have been a steady, upward grind. The best days, he hopes, are still to come.

Coming off a second-place Mountain West finish and the Lobos’ first conference tournament appearance since 2017, Brown has agreed to a three-year contract extension that would keep him at UNM through the 2029 season. UNM announced the extension Wednesday.

Brown, whose base annual salary is $165,000, had two years remaining on his initial five-year contract. The Lobos have gone 75-84 in his three seasons but have steadily climbed the Mountain West standings, moving from last, to fifth, to second in 2024.

“I’m very excited (about the extension),” Brown said, “but the big thing is, there’s more to do. When I took the job three years ago, I knew it would be a challenge to get us back contending for conference titles. I like our progression, but we’re not there yet. This gives us stability to keep moving forward.”

UNM faces considerable transition next season after 12 seniors exhausted their eligibility in 2024. That includes catcher and Mountain West Co-Player of the Year Jake Holland along with several other key starters.

But All-MWC standout Will Asby and fellow starting outfielders Tye Wood and Khalil Walker (UNM’s leading hitter last season) will return, and the Lobos have received commitments from 19 new players — six freshmen, 11 junior college transfers and two seniors coming via the NCAA transfer portal.

“We’ve still got pro organizations and other schools talking to our guys, talking to our recruits,” Brown said, “but so far, we’re in good shape. Ninety percent of my day is spent on roster management, especially this time of year. But we’re coming off a successful year and now people know we’ll be here for five more years. Those things definitely help with recruiting.”

Brown said all three of his assistant coaches from last season (pitching coach Michael Lopez, hitting coach Justin Mitchell and recruiting coordinator Matt Risdon) will return in 2025 — a first in Brown’s UNM tenure.

UNM’s baseball program has excelled in the classroom under Brown, posting a 3.32 combined GPA last season and twice earning American Baseball Coaches Association Team Academic Excellence Awards during his tenure. The program’s top six semester GPAs have come under Brown.

“We’re excited to have Coach Brown continuing to lead our program and build upon the improvement we’ve seen the last three seasons,” UNM Athletic Director Eddie Nuñez said in a release. “Tod and his staff have placed an emphasis on elevating the program academically and within the community while giving our student-athletes the ability to compete for championships.”

The Lobos narrowly missed grabbing a Mountain West regular-season championship last season, finishing one game behind Air Force in the league standings before falling to San Jose State in their MWC tournament opener. It capped a roller-coaster season for UNM that included an eight-game losing skid followed by a 10-4 surge that featured a 17-3 win at Texas Tech and a series sweep of San Diego State.

“We obviously had ups and downs,” Brown said, “but I liked the way our guys battled. Making the conference tournament was one of our first goals and we had a chance to take first place until the last day of the season. We did some things the program hadn’t done since 2017 and now we have to build on those. We’ve got some momentum, we’ve got to keep going.”