New Mexico State University has announced former football safety Joe Fields as its next director of athletics.
Fields comes to Las Cruces after a year as Deputy Athletics Director and Chief Operating Officer at Tulsa. Before that, he worked in the Texas A&M athletic department. He will begin his new gig on October 8.
“Aggie fans are going to love what Joe brings to the table,” Justin Bannister, chair of the AD search committee and NMSU's chief of staff said in a release. “He's been a student-athlete and an administrator, so he has unique insight into the full experience of college athletics.”
Fields played college football at Syracuse, where he earned all-Big East honors at safety, launching him into a one-year pro career with the Carolina Panthers.
“Joe Fields is first and foremost devoted to the overall excellence of our student-athletes. He brings integrity and humility to the role, and his qualifications as a former athlete, leader of athletes and competitor will help shape and lead our Athletics programs into their next chapter,” New Mexico State president Valerio Ferme said. “In my conversations with him, he has stressed the need to support our athletes holistically. I know that his focus will be the overall success of our student-athletes, so they are achieving in the classroom as much if not more than they are in the athletics arena.”
“I'm honored that President Ferme has selected me to serve as the next Director of Athletics at New Mexico State University,” Fields said. “The future is bright for NMSU, and my family and I are thrilled to become part of the Aggie community. We're ready to get to work and build on the proud tradition of Aggie Athletics.”
Fields' arrival comes at a turbulent time for Aggie athletics. Now members of Conference USA after toiling in independent obscurity, head football coach Tony Sanchez is in his second season as he looks to build off of Jerry Kill's brief spurt of success.
In men's basketball, Jason Hooten is entering year three trying to rebuild the once proud program that he inherited as it was mired in a hazing scandal that caused the university to cancel the end of its 2022-23 season. Hooten will welcome a new-look roster in 2025-26 as he tries to build on a 17-15 season.
