New Mexico AD Paul Krebs to retire at end of June

Earlier Friday morning Paul Krebs announced his departure with the University of New Mexico. Krebs sent out a message to acting UNM President Chaouki Abdallah announcing that his retirement will be effective on June 30th. Until then, Krebs will be using some of his annual leave for the remaining time.

In his statement to Abdallah, Krebs says:

“I have been planning to retire for some time, but delayed my departure at your request to help ensure a smooth Athletic Department leadership transition; however, I believe my retirement at this time is in my best interest and the University’s.”

Throughout the rest of the statement, Krebs goes on to list several accomplishments made by the schools Athletic Department under his time at New Mexico. This is coming just a couple weeks after it was discovered that Krebs was keeping a Scotland golf trip secret after using public money to pay for it. The University’s Athletic Department spent over $60,000 on the trip, paying for Krebs, two other Lobo employees, and three business men. It was also learned that two days ago, a special audit headed by Tim Keller will be taking place to investigate if there were any law violations.

Krebs’ will not complete the rest of his contract good through 2019, he will not owe the University anything nor will he be owed anything . There is no further word if Krebs will face any form of discipline for his possible violation of the anti-donation clause of New Mexico.

During this process, President Abdallah has had his Athletic Directors back. Abdallah spoke on Krebs’ retirement Friday morning, “I thank Paul Krebs for his outstanding leadership of UNM athletics. 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.”

Despite major success at the University, UNM has had less and less money to play with each year. New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas issued an investigation on the golf scandal, as well as any other form of under the table spending by Krebs.

“While I am pleased that Mr. Krebs resigned from UNM Athletics, Balderas said in speaking with the Albuquerque Journal, “our investigation of this matter is still ongoing. Even if a public official leaves office, they can still face legal consequences for actions they took while in office.”

If Krebs is found to have violated the states laws, he could possibly face much worse discipline than just a fine from the University.

Despite the recent unfolding's, replacing Krebs will be a tough task for UNM. Since his hiring at the University, the athletic-academic success rate sky rocketed, the Lobos football team is having the most success its had in several seasons, and the men's basketball team has had many solid seasons over the past 11 years. Krebs has made some great decisions involving what is best for the school’s major athletic programs.

There are no details in relations to a potential candidate for the new position opening.