Colorado Targets Rising Athletic Director As Deion Sanders Hits Pivotal Moment

The wait is lOv-er.

The University of Colorado is targeting Fernando Lovo as its next athletic director, according to reports by Ryan Koenigsberg of DNVR and Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports on Saturday. Lovo has held the same role with the University of New Mexico for the past year and owns an alluring résumé with premier college and pro programs.

Colorado Finds Successor For Rick George

Feb 22, 2025; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes athletic director Rick George during the first half against the Baylor Bears at the CU Events Center. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Dellenger noted that a deal is not final, and UNM released a statement Saturday night denying its current validity. However, several high-level Lobo officials corroborated the reports to Albuquerque news station KRQE.

When approved by CU's Board of Regents, Lovo will become the seventh athletic director in Buffaloes history. He'll succeed Rick George, who announced last November that he would step down after nearly 13 years and assume an advisory position. Colorado chancellor Justin Schwartz described his replacement as the most important hire in school athletic history.

George assisted the search, and in less than two months, a replacement was found. Lovo is young at just 37, but nearly two decades of directing personnel at the universities of Florida, Ohio State, Houston, Texas and with the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars preceded a sensational 13 months at New Mexico that wouldn't be denied.

Fernando Lovo's Promising Track Record

New Mexico Lobos head coach Jason Eck speaks to members of the press during a Rate Bowl media day at JW Marriott Camelback Inn in Scottsdale on Dec. 24, 2025. | Diannie Chavez/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Lovo began as Florida's head football equipment manager in 2008 before spending a year as an operations assistant. Ohio State hired him as an operations coordinator in 2012, where he spent the next three years. In 2014, the Buckeyes won their first football national championship in nearly four decades.

The next year, he became an assistant athletic director at Houston before a four-year stint as chief of staff with Texas. Lovo held that same role in 2021 with the Jaguars, then returned to Austin as a senior associate athletic director. He finished his tenure as the executive senior associate AD for operations.

New Mexico came calling in December 2024, baptizing him by fire. Football coach Bronco Mendenhall left in his first week, as did men's basketball coach Richard Pitino the next March. Lovo guided an overhaul of both programs through the sharp hirings of Jason Eck and Eric Olen, respectively.

With a roster largely compiled of transfers, Eck led the Lobos to a 9-4 record and their first bowl game berth since 2016. Their average home attendance grew more than any team in the FBS. Sound familiar?

Dec 26, 2025; Phoenix, AZ, USA; New Mexico Lobos running back Damon Bankston (1) returns a kickoff for a 100 yard touchdown against the Minnesota Gophers during the second half of the Rate Bowl at Chase Field. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The season capped a historic run of revenue for Lovo's department, growing New Mexico's operational budget by 17.6 percent and garnering record ticket sales, donor allowances, multimedia rights and much more.

They bled green for good reason. UNM athletics finished 49th in the Learfield Directors’ Cup, best among Group of Five schools and the highest finish for a G5 in 12 years. The Lobos led the Mountain West with six conference titles, a mark that tied for fourth-most in school history.

New Mexico won numerous individual national championships in track and cross country, with the latter team finishing as the only program to podium in both men's and women's. Lovo didn't leave any team behind, calling basketball a "cornerstone" of his revenue-sharing strategy at UNM following the House v. NCAA settlement last June.

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Coach Prime Era At Crossroads

Nov 29, 2024; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders runs onto the field before the game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Folsom Field. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

But George's greatest accomplishment, the hiring of football coach Deion Sanders, is soon to be Lovo's chief concern.

"Coach Prime" will own the spotlight until further notice, but with his teams' recent struggles, it will be fascinating to see how Lovo approaches his situation. Sanders signed a five-year, $54 million contract extension last spring that made him one of college football's 10 highest-paid coaches, but he followed it with the worst season of his tenure.

And after a wave of departures, the Buffs must fill over 50 scholarship spots in January's transfer portal window. Lovo likely wouldn't take the wheel until next summer, but Sanders' cycle of fielding competitive rosters year over year has been taxing, to say the least. Their relationship throughout 2026 may make or break the program's future.

Finding an athletic director who could embrace modern college sports' money-driven challenges to relieve coaches like Sanders, alongside basketball's Tad Boyle and JR Payne, was paramount for Colorado. Lovo is an upstart mind who aced his only test to date, but whether he's built to run a teetering power program remains to be seen.