When Fernando Lovo was hired as the athletic director at New Mexico on Dec. 1, 2024, he wasn’t anticipating that to be a quick stop along the career path.
In November, however, when he learned that Colorado athletic director Rick George was stepping down, Lovo paid attention.
“CU is one of those iconic brands,” Lovo told BuffZone on Monday after he was named the seventh full-time athletic director in program history.
Lovo has no previous ties to CU, but said he actually used to pick Colorado as his team when he would play the former version of EA Sports’ NCAA Football video game when growing up.
“I don’t know if I liked the colors or the jerseys,” he said with a laugh, “but, I would play as Colorado.”
Now, he’ll look to lead CU to championships for real.
Lovo was announced as CU’s new AD on Monday after less than 13 months on the job at New Mexico. It was an eventful and successful tenure with the Lobos, however, that included success in football, and record-breaking success in fund raising and academics.
“I’m incredibly proud of my team and the work we did at New Mexico,” Lovo said.
There were challenges, too, including having football coach Bronco Mendenhall leave the Lobos for Utah State just five days after Lovo was hired.
“I had been there for five days and they said, ‘You have to hire a football coach,’” Lovo said. “It was a challenge, but one we met.”
Just eight days later, Lovo hired Jason Eck, who led New Mexico to a 9-4 record and a trip to the Rate Bowl this season. It was New Mexico’s first winning season and bowl appearance since 2016.
Lovo will face challenges at CU, too. The athletic department has a projected deficit of nearly $27 million for the 2026 fiscal year, and the Buffaloes’ football program is still striving for consistent success it hasn’t found in two decades. Under the direction of head coach Deion Sanders, the Buffs went 9-4 in 2024, but slipped to 3-9 this year.
Lovo said he’s striving for success in all areas, including on the field, academically and in fund raising.
“My motto is if they’re keeping score, I want to win,” he said.
Lovo will start his new job at CU on Thursday, and will have to get to know Boulder. He did not visit Boulder or the CU campus during the hiring process. However, he will work closely with the man he’s replacing, George, who is stepping down at the end of the school year but will help Lovo with the transition.
“Not only do I like it, I love it,” Lovo said of working with George. “Rick is one of the titans of the industry and I’m excited to work with him in this transition.”
CU chancellor Justin Schwartz used CSA Search and Consulting to help with the hiring process. He said CSA helped him identify 35-40 candidates initially. That was soon narrowed to six, and eventually two finalists before CU hired Lovo.
“He beat some heavyweights for the job,” Schwartz told BuffZone, adding he was impressed with how dedicated Lovo was in leading New Mexico.
“He wasn’t living out of a suitcase and just looking to update his resume during his time at New Mexico. In fact, I’m sure it would take a while to update his resume with all that he did there.”
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