NMSU names Tulsa's Fields to head athletic department

Nearly 10 months after firing athletic director Mario Moccia, New Mexico State has found his replacement. The Aggies announced Monday, Sept. 29 that they have chosen Joe Fields, the deputy athletic director and chief operating officer at the University of Tulsa, as the new leader of NMSU’s athletic department.

The selection of Fields comes after what the University describes as a national search. He will begin the new role Oct. 8.

Fields has been at Tulsa since August 2024, where he directed the daily operations of the Golden Hurricane athletic department. He brings 20 years of experience in college athletics, both as a leader and a competitor, to the job at NMSU.

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.

Fields returned to his alma mater in 2010 as an academic graduate assistant and also worked with Syracuse athletics as an academic coordinator with the Orange football team and later the men's basketball team.

Fields was named associate athletic director for academic services at Texas A&M in 2017. He was promoted to senior associate AD for student-athlete services in March 2020. His work there included management of NIL operations and athlete performance and wellness.

“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 in the news release announcing the hiring. “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 in the release. “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 athletic program in which 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 in the release. “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.”

Amber Burdge has been serving as the acting AD since January. The national search for a new athletic director began in the summer as Ferme and his team reassessed its long-term plan.

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.”

Fields’ perspective as a student-athlete helped shape his work in student-athlete development and academics at A&M, where he restructured the athletic department's Center for Student-Athlete Services. 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.

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

Fields will be formally introduced at a news conference later this week.

Keep watching The Bulletin for more information on the direction Fields intends to lead Aggie athletics.