There's a new sheriff in charge ofDeion Sanders.
His name is Fernando Lovo. He's 37 years old, 21 years younger than Sanders,Colorado's football coach. But now he's Sanders' new boss after the University of Colorado's Board of Regents on Monday approved thehiring of Lovo as Colorado's new athletic director.
Lovo previously served for about a year as the athletic director at New Mexico. He will replace Rick George, whois stepping downto another role, and will immediately inherit two daunting challenges in his first year on the job:
∎ Making sure the football program gets back on track after theBuffaloes went 3-9 in Sanders' third season. Sanders has four seasons left on a contract that pays him more than $10 million annually.
∎ Finding new sources of revenue for the Colorado athletics department, which isfacing a $27 million budget deficitin the fiscal year that ends in June 2026.
To attack those two problems, Colorado invested in Lovo at the price of $1.2 million per year through the year 2030, according to his contract obtained by USA TODAY Sports. One of the regents thanked Colorado chancellor Justin Schwartz for making a different kind of hire for this position.
"I'm excited that, chancellor, you looked beyond age and were willing to consider someone who wasn't 55-plus to lead this institution," Regent Mark VanDriel said at the board meeting in which Lovo's hiring was approved Dec. 29.
Why did Colorado hire Fernando Lovo?
By hiring him, Colorado is getting an energetic, young up-and-comer with experience as a former chief of staff for the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars, along with two different stints as an administrator at Texas. New Mexico hired him in December 2024, setting the stage for a banner year in which the Lobos grew their overall operating budget by 17.6% with record marks in ticket sales, multimedia rights and fundraising, according to the university. Lovo last year also hired football coachJason Eck, a former Colorado graduate assistant coach whose Lobos team finished 9-4.
Lovo will start his new job Jan. 1 with George transitioning to a new role as emeritus athletic director.
"We are in a time of extraordinary change in college athletics and Colorado should lead the way in shaping what comes next," Lovo said in a statement.
George served as Colorado's athletic director since 2013 and was making $1.1 million annually. He hired Sanders in December 2022 and gave him the autonomy to build the program his own way, which included a heavy reliance on the transfer portal andno off-campus recruiting visits for Sanders.
If the next football season goes sideways like it did in 2025, the big question for Lovo will be what he does about it. Colorado has lost several top players to the transfer portal so far, including safety Tawfiq Byard and receiver Omarion Miller. But Sanders is expected to welcome a bevy of incoming transfers, too, when the portal officially opens Jan. 2.
Colorado will buy out Lovo's New Mexico contract
Colorado's search for a new athletic director this time was aided by CSA Search and Consulting, the firm led by former Washington athletic director Todd Turner and his son Drew. Their fee for this search was $125,000, according to records obtained by USA TODAY Sports.
Colorado also will buy out Lovo's contract at New Mexico for about $800,000. He had four years left on his contract there and was making $500,000 per year, including $400,000 in annual base pay. If he quits to take another job, his contract calls for him to owe New Mexico half of the base pay left on his contract, which is $1.6 million over four years, according to the contract obtained by USA TODAY Sports.
If Colorado's buyout of his New Mexico contract is treated as taxable income to Lovo by any taxing authority,Colorado will pay up to $350,000 more as a "gross-up" payment to place Lovo in the same after-tax position as if the buyout were non-taxable, according to the terms of Lovo's Colorado contract.
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer@Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
(This story was updated to add new information.)
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Colorado hires Fernando Lovo as athletic director for Deion Sanders.
