UNM, Eric Olen agree on new five-year contract

The University of New Mexico and men’s basketball coach Eric Olen have agreed to a new contract, one that will pay him $7.25 million over the next five years and includes measures intended to entice the coach to stick around.

Olen led the Lobos to a 26-win season and the NIT semifinals in his first year as head coach.

“This past year has been an amazing experience for me and my family,” Olen said. “It’s an honor to lead this program and walking down the ramp on game day is something I will never take for granted. The support from this community and passion of our fan base make the University of New Mexico a truly special place. I appreciate everyone that helped make year one so memorable and I’m excited to build on that foundation.”

The new deal, not an extension of the old contract, runs through the 2030-31 season.

Olen’s base pay will not increase under this contract, but the new deal does include a $100,000 retention bonus. Also, as part of the agreement, UNM increased the assistant coaching salary pool by $175,000.

The new deal also comes with what’s essentially a $1 million buyout increase. Universities, to protect their investments in head coaches, often include buyout clauses that require a coach to repay the university if the coach leaves for a more lucrative deal at another school.

After a first year in which his team outperformed expectations, Olen drew interest from power-conference programs and would likely receive renewed attention if the Lobos repeated their success.

Olen must repay the university 50% of the entire contract if he leaves after Year 1 or Year 2. Because this is a new contract, he would be on the hook for $2,950,000 if he left after the 2026-27 season. Had UNM and Olen not reworked the contract, he would have owed $2,025,000 had he left after this next season.

Olen’s new deal is not unlike the new contract UNM football coach Jason Eck received after his successful first season.

In both cases, power conference programs were swooping in to try to lure the coaches away, and in both cases, UNM chose to invest unprecedented sums to retain the coaches (and their assistant coaching staffs).

The moves come after former football head coach Bronco Mendenhall and former men’s basketball head coach Richard Pitino left for more money at Utah State and Xavier, respectively, in the 2024-25 seasons.

Asked about the decision on that investment in Eck and Olen, new Vice President for Athletics Ryan Berryman, who has been in contract talks with Olen and his agent since Berryman became interim AD in January, said it was time to double down on the program’s two most high-profile programs to lift the department as a whole.

“It has been a transformational couple of years for college athletics both nationally and locally here at UNM,” Berryman told the Journal. “Our program is riding a wave of incredible momentum on the heels of immense success, which has influenced how people perceive our University and athletic department.