The 13-Month Itch: What Fernando Lovo Left Behind and Why Berryman Is the Answer
Photo: Chris Rodarte/Game Pass Media
Well, here we are again Lobos fans.
I had planned to write something about the magical University of New Mexico football season and what we have to look forward to after the Rate Bowl in Phoenix on Saturday.
Then Fernando Lovo bolted for The University of Colorado-Boulder.
A lot of Lobos fans and alumni kinda figured the athletic director Lovo would leave eventually, but not 13 months after getting hired.
“I’m shocked because I didn’t think it [Lovo Leaving UNM] would happen now,” UNM’s all-time leading rusher DonTrell Moore told The Pit Press. “I thought this would be a two or three year thing.”
Now Ryan Berryman has been named interim athletic director, and there is one big silver lining here. A blessing in disguise.
Berryman has deep ties to Lobo Nation.
Something former UNM athletic directors Eddie Nunez and Lovo never had.
The point I’m trying to make is Lovo leaving could have actually pushed us even closer to the bigger task at hand: Turning Albuquerque into a Lobo basketball AND football town.
Lobos fans can help make UNM Football its own brand.
That starts with consistent front office leadership. Someone who wants to be here like Berryman.
Someone who can continue to shape the culture for years to come.
Berryman has served in different leadership roles at UNM since 2015, most recently as deputy athletic director.
“I am honored by the opportunity to serve the University of New Mexico, my alma mater, in this interim role. Lobo Athletics has a proud tradition and a strong future," Berryman said in a statement after accepting the role.
College sports are different now, the days of getting attached to your favorite player and coach are gone. It can be a soulless business. It’s not everyday someone like Berryman gets the chance to lead their alma mater’s athletic department.
Lovo, for example, took the Colorado job without even stepping foot in Boulder (but he has seen it in video game form).
The University of New Mexico is trying to build a college football identity. That's something we've never had before.
Lobo football coach Jason Eck, for as much as we love him, may not be here forever, but his BRAND of football and swagger can be.
College Football is full of weird traditions that have outlasted coaching staffs and athletic directors.
Texas A&M does a Midnight Yell. I learned all about it against my will after working with several A&M alums.
I covered Texas Tech during the Mahomes-Kingsbury era and I was confused as hell when fans started throwing tortillas on the field.
Again, it's all a part of the brand those teams developed over decades.
Albuquerque showed out this year for the Lobo football team, but we need to do this every year: show recruits and donors that we’re just as crazy about the product on the field at University Stadium as we are at The Pit.
We can have our own weird traditions too!
If Berryman gets the interim tag removed, UNM can have the architect they’ve been searching for to implement a consistent culture.
“Ryan Berryman brings deep institutional knowledge, steady leadership, and a strong commitment to our student-athletes, coaches, and staff,” UNM President Garnett Stokes said in a statement announcing the move.
The Lobo Basketball Brand is so strong that even in rebuilding years everyone talks about how tough it is to play in The Pit. Richard Pitino and Steve Alford stayed in Albuquerque long enough to build contenders on the shoulders of that tradition.
The Lobo Football Program can be right there IF we want it to be.
