UNM's highest profile coaches bullish on future of Lobo athletics

Eric Olen and Jason Eck are at the University of New Mexico because of Athletics Director Fernando Lovo.

Lovo, however, is no longer their boss. Earlier this week, the 37-year-old rising star AD was lured away from Albuquerque by the University of Colorado.

On Friday, both head coaches — the two highest profile hires Lovo made in his 13 eventful months at UNM — shared their thoughts on the move, and the Journal learned some details about the university's search for a permanent athletics director.

“I will be forever grateful for Fernando Lovo hiring me and giving me the opportunity at New Mexico," said Eck, who came to UNM from Idaho and had arguably the best start to a Lobo football coaching tenure ever as the team went 9-4, tied for the Mountain West's top regular season record and played in a bowl game for the first time since 2016. 

"His leadership pushed our football program and the entire athletic department forward. Very happy for him and his family for getting this Power 4 opportunity at Colorado."

Olen, who Lovo hired out of UC San Diego to replace outgoing Richard Pitino last March, had a similar sentiment.

"First, just congratulations to him. I'm happy for him and (wife) Jordan and their family," said Olen, whose Lobos carry a 19-game home win streak into Saturday night's Mountain West conference game against Wyoming. 

"I will always be super grateful to him for providing me the opportunity to be the head coach here. I have a lot of respect and admiration for him and how he worked, and again, just providing me this opportunity is something that we'll always appreciate."

But the beat most certainly goes on.

There are still games to play, athletes to coach and an athletics department to run.

Deputy Athletic Director and Chief Operating Officer Ryan Berryman has been named Interim AD. It's well known around UNM's south campus that both Berryman and fellow Deputy AD and Chief Revenue Officer Jalen Dominguez will apply to replace Lovo permanently.

With the campus being shut down for the winter break, UNM has not made formal announcements about how it will proceed with the search for a new AD, though the Journal has learned that such decisions should be made public next week. 

Every indication is that there will be a national search — the same process that resulted in Lovo, who had no prior UNM connections, being hired little more than a year ago to replace former AD Eddie Nuñez.

The Journal has also learned that UNM President Garnett S. Stokes, who announced she'll retire this summer, will make the hire rather than waiting for a new university president to start an AD search. 

Eck and Olen each say the momentum generated over the past 13 months under Lovo provides optimism for the future.

"I think that whether it's men's basketball or Lobo athletics in general, this is all bigger than one person, administrator, coach, player," Olen said. "I think that's a big part of what makes Lobo athletics special."

Eck, who in November signed a new contract that took effect just Thursday, said he's excited about the department's future as well.

"We have massive momentum behind our athletic program, we have a number of outstanding candidates interested in the AD position," Eck said. "Our department will remain in great hands."

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