ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Paul Krebs, Vice President for Athletics, has announced that he will retire from his position at The University of New Mexico, effective June 30, 2017.
Krebs’ 11-year tenure with the Lobos produced an unprecedented run of success in terms of championships, academic achievement and fundraising. Krebs had the second-longest tenure all-time among Mountain West Directors of Athletics.
Paul Krebs throws out the first pitch at Isotopes Park.”I am proud of my 11 years of service to the University of New Mexico and our accomplishments as a Department,” Krebs said. “I have had the privilege of working with great coaches and staff during my tenure. Even more important, I am proud of our student-athletes, their character, and how they have represented the University on the playing field and in the community.”
“I thank Paul Krebs for his outstanding leadership of UNM athletics,” Interim University of New Mexico President Dr. Chaouki Abdallah said. “His tenure will go down as the most productive and successful in school history. Paul has tried to retire several times over the last year, and now I finally have reluctantly agreed to accept his retirement. Paul and Marjori have been very active in serving the University community, our city and our state. I wish Paul the best in his retirement.”
In terms of on the field success, there has never been a better run than the past 11 years in the history of the university. Under Krebs’ leadership, the Lobos have won 57 Mountain West titles (and seven other titles in different conferences including the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and Conference USA). The Lobos had never won as many as four conference titles in a season prior to Krebs’ second year at UNM, but the Lobos won four in 2007-08, 2009-10 and 2010-11, five in 2008-09, six in 2014-15, eight in 2012-13 and a school record 10 championships in both 2011-12 and 2013-14. The 34 championships won over a four-year stretch from 2011-12 to 2014-15 is the best run not just in the history of UNM, but in the history of the Mountain West.
Individually, 83 student-athletes have picked up conference “of the Year” honors, whether that’s Player of the Year, Newcomer, Freshman or any other major individual sport award. UNM picked up a record 12 in 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14. Overall, UNM has garnered 193 All-America honors as well.
The Lobos also have had national success. Along with the program’s second NCAA National Championship in women’s cross country, New Mexico has had unprecedented success in the Learfield Director’s Cup standings, finishing as high as 41st in 2011-12, and picking up a school record 522 points in 2009-10. New Mexico finished in the top 60 for six straight years, from the 2009-10 season through 2014-15. For the first 10 years of his tenure, UNM has never finished outside of the top 75 in the Learfield Director’s Cup. The Lobos currently rank 51stin the 2016-17 Learfield Director’s Cup standings.
Along with the Learfield Director’s Cup success and UNM’s national title in cross country, the Lobos have had 12 individual national champions, including at least one in nine of his 11 years.
However, the most significant lasting impact that Krebs will have had on the University of New Mexico, and the legacy he will certainly be most proud of, is the academic successes of the student-athletes.
Brian Urlacher and Paul Krebs talk on Nov. 9, 2013 prior to Urlacher’s jersey retirement ceremony.
“Improving our academic performance was a major emphasis from day one, especially as it relates to graduation rates. The success we have had in dramatically improving our graduation rates is a testament to our coaches, the faculty and staff of the University, our team in the Student Success Center, and most importantly to the student-athletes themselves,” Krebs said.
It’s an era of unprecedented academic successes, from national honors to team grade point averages. The Lobo student-athletes under Krebs have turned in least a 3.00 GPA in each of the last 17 consecutive semesters and 27 of the past 28. UNM’s student-athletes have had a higher cumulative GPA than the general student body for 10 consecutive semesters.
Most every program has set a GPA record under his tenure, and in three of the last four semesters, the Lobos have had a school record department GPA. In his 11+ years leading the department, the Lobos have had 47 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans1, the highest individual academic honor that can be achieved. UNM has had multiple CoSIDA Academic All-Americans in all 11 of his years as the Vice President for Athletics, including three First Team selections this season.
The Lobos have also set program highs for Academic Progress Rate, the NCAA’s measurement for athletic departments regarding academics and retention. Earlier in May of this year, the NCAA released the 2015-16 APR marks for all schools, and every one of UNM’s programs scored above a 950 for the first time in school history. In terms of student-athlete personal growth and development, Krebs instituted the Lobos for Life Leadership Series and the Lobo Women’s Society. Student-athletes have also served the Albuquerque and surrounding communities in record numbers, logging an average of over 6,000 hours per year in community service.
Paul Krebs on the sidelines at The Cotton Bowl in 2016 during UNM’s 45-40 win over Air Force.The academic successes can be traced to the Lobo Student-Athlete Success Center, one of the many facility projects undertaken during Krebs’ tenure. All told, UNM has seen major facility improvements in nearly every sport, including major renovations or upgrades to Dreamstyle Arena, Dreamstyle Stadium, Santa Ana Star Field, Lobo Softball Field, the UNM Track/Soccer Complex, the McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium and the new Lobo Golf Practice Facility. He recently announced a $10 million naming rights agreement with Dreamstyle remodeling, granting naming rights for UNM’s basketball and football facilities.
Also in his time at UNM, Krebs has implemented many programs and ideas to better the student-athlete experience. He helped negotiate UNM’s apparel deal with Nike, which outfitted all Lobo teams and was worth more than four times the previous contract. The Lobo Club—UNM’s fundraising arm for athletic scholarships—set records in 2007-08, 2008-09, 2010-11 and again in 2014-15 for total members and contributions. The 2014-15 contributions were over $14.7 million.
“As a team we have built an athletic program that is known for winning championships, having outstanding facilities, and most importantly, graduating student-athletes at record levels,” Krebs said. “I am grateful to the loyal Lobo fans who are some of the best and most passionate fans in all of college athletics and are tremendously supportive of all our teams, coaches, and student-athletes.”
Krebs began his professional career in collegiate athletics as the Assistant Ticket Director at the University of Oklahoma in 1981. He was promoted to Ticket Director in 1983. He worked at The Ohio State University from 1985-99 where he rose to Associate Athletic Director. He left Ohio State in 1999 to become the Athletic Director at Bowling Green State University.
A native of Canfield, Ohio, Krebs earned a bachelor’s degree in Business from Bowling Green in 1978 and a master’s degree in Athletic Administration from Ohio State in 1980.
Nationally, Krebs served his first year as a member of the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Committee. In years past he has served nationally as a member of the NCAA Competition Oversight Committee, as the Mountain West Representative to the NCAA Council, and served as a member of the NCAA Baseball Committee. He has also served on the NACDA Executive Board and has been the Mountain West representative to the 1-A Athletic Directors Association. He formerly was the liaison for the Mountain West baseball and football coaches and current is in that capacity for Mountain West basketball coaches.
Krebs has actively served the Albuquerque community throughout his tenure. He was a six-year member of the United Way of Central New Mexico Board. He also served on the Young Life of Albuquerque Board and is currently a board member of the Heart Gallery of New Mexico Foundation. He and his wife Marjori, an associate professor in the UNM College of Education, are currently members of the United Way’s Tocqueville Society and he helped initiate the Lobos vs. Cancer Gala 10 years ago.
| The University of New Mexico Athletic Directors | |||
| 1. | Ralph L. Hutchinson | 1911-1917 | |
| 2. | Roy Johnson | 1920-1949 | |
| 3. | Berl Huffman | 1950-1951 | |
| 4. | George “Blanco” White | 1952-1954 | |
| 5. | John Dolzadelli | 1954-1955 | |
| 6. | Pete McDavid | 1956-1974 | |
| 7. | LaVon McDonald | 1975-1979 | |
| 8. | John Bridgers | 1980-1987 | |
| 9. | Dr. John Koenig | 1987-1988 | |
| 10. | Dr. Gary Ness | 1988-1992 | |
| 11. | Rudy Davalos | 1992-2006 | |
| 12. | Paul Krebs | 2006-2017 | |
1 updated at 4:04 p.m. to reflect the honors for Jared Mang and Carl Stajduhar as CoSIDA Academic All-Americans on 6/2/2017