NM State Athletics Announces Joe Fields as 24th Director of Athletics

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Following a national search, New Mexico State University has selected Joe Fields, Deputy Athletics Director and Chief Operating Officer at the University of Tulsa, as its next Director of Athletics. Fields will begin his new role Oct. 8.

Fields joined the University of Tulsa in August 2024 with 20 years' experience in college athletics, both as a leader and a competitor. As a student-athlete, Fields played football at Syracuse University from 2004 to 2007, earning All-Big East Conference honors at safety. He then played professionally for one season with the NFL's Carolina Panthers."

Aggie fans are going to love what Joe brings to the table," said Justin Bannister, chair of the AD search committee and NMSU's chief of staff. "He's been a student-athlete and an administrator, so he has unique insight into the full experience of college athletics."

NMSU President Valerio Ferme said Fields' extensive experience in enhancing both the academic and personal development of student-athletes made him an appealing choice."

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," Ferme said Monday. "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."

Fields said he's looking forward to bringing his experience in student-athlete development to an athletics program where he sees tremendous potential for both academic and athletic success.

"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."

Bannister said he and other committee members see Fields' drive and enthusiasm as a great fit for NMSU."He's competitive and knows what it takes to win," Bannister said. "I know he is going to work every single day to take New Mexico State Athletics to the next level."

In his role at Tulsa, Fields oversaw the daily operations of the athletics department and navigated a college sports landscape that underwent significant changes. He also served as the sport administrator for Tulsa's football program.

Fields previously served as Executive Associate Athletics Director for Internal Operations at Texas A&M, where he managed the internal operations of the athletics department and served as the sport administrator for the football and basketball programs.

He joined Texas A&M in 2017 as the Associate Athletics Director for Academic Services and was later promoted to Senior Associate Athletics Director for Student-Athlete Services and Administration, and eventually, Deputy Athletics Director.

Fields' perspective as a student-athlete helped shape his work in student-athlete development and academics at A&M, where he restructured the athletics department's Center for Student-Athlete Services, implementing or revamping several key student-athlete development programs. The changes resulted in a record-breaking performance of that unit in several academic benchmarks, including grade-point averages, academic progress rates, and graduate success rates.

He spent the beginning of his career at his alma mater, Syracuse, where worked his way up through the student-athlete development ranks, starting as a graduate assistant and ultimately serving as Director of Academic Services. His time as an administrator at Syracuse was also marked by improvements in academic success for the men's and women's basketball programs and the football program.

Fields holds a bachelor's degree in physical education, and a master's degree in instructional design, development, and evaluation, both from Syracuse University. He and his wife, Sade, have two sons, Joseph and Jode, and one daughter, Jade.

New Mexico State Athletics will announce details of a press conference and opportunities for the community to meet Fields later this week. For more information, visit nmstatesports.com.