Mercogliano, Christiansen, Orvik Promoted to Associate A.D.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Vice President for Athletics/Director of Athletics Eddie Nuñez has announced three promotions within the athletic department:, Frank Mercogliano has been named Associate AD for Communications, Chase Christiansen has been named Associate AD for Creative Services, and Brady Orvik has been named Associate AD for Ticketing.
Mercogliano is one of the longest serving members of the athletic department, joining the Lobo team in August of 2010. He spent his first four years at UNM running communications for Lobo Basketball as UNM won three consecutive Mountain West Tournament Championships and played in three straight NCAA Tournaments. Since then he has led the communications efforts for Lobo Football. In 2022, the Lobo Football Communications team was honored with the Department’s first Super 11 Award, representing the best communications departments in FBS Football. He previously served as the Assistant AD for Communications.
“Frank has a tremendous knowledge of Lobo history,” said Nuñez. “He leads a department that serves a critical function in shaping the stories and vision of our department, our coaches and our student-athletes. He has a tremendous passion for UNM and all of our programs.”
Chase Christiansen came to UNM in October of 2020 and immediately raised the profile of UNM’s visual presentation. He has built UNM’s digital production area into a department that showcases high-level, multi-camera productions for live events. Additionally, he has overseen the installation of a new production room that has allowed for complete integration of many of the visual elements located in The Pit and University Stadium.
“Chase has raised the level of our creative services, particularly in the area of our live productions,” said Nuñez. “His area continues to grow and UNM is now a leader in not just the Mountain West but college athletics in production and presentation of live events.”
Brady Orvik came to UNM in May of 2021 and has been instrumental in moving Lobo ticketing for all sports into the digital space. Along with managing the tickets department, Orvik has worked closely with UNM’s partners for ticketing, including Paciolan and PlayFly to fully integrate the ticketing processes into GoLobos.com, the Lobo Sports App. Orvik has also aided in the transition for digital parking.
“One of the most evolving parts of our industry is in the ticketing space, and Brady has done a great job of putting UNM on the forefront of emerging technologies in ticketing and customer service,” said Nuñez. “Brady has cultivated a terrific staff that handles ticketing not just for UNM events but any outside event that we host. Brady’s hard work and dedication are certainly appreciated.”