Colorado just handed the keys of the athletic department to new AD Fernando Lovo, and his contract is turning heads for some pretty wild reasons. While Lovo is getting a historic payday, fans have pointed out a crazy coincidence: one of his major fundraising bonuses is basically the same amount Deion Sanders makes in just a single week.

It’s a “blink and you’ll miss it” kind of comparison that shows exactly how much cash is flowing through Boulder right now.

To put things in perspective, Coach Prime is currently making about $10 million a year for the 2025 season. When you break that down over 52 weeks, it comes out to roughly $192,300 every seven days. Not gonna lie, that’s generational wealth. Forget football for a minute and think economically.

You can justify every dollar when you look at how Deion Sanders has completely changed the school’s image and helped bring in record revenue. Colorado clearly believes he’s worth every penny of that weekly paycheck.

On the other side of the fence, Fernando Lovo is the guy making sure the school can actually afford Deion Sanders and fast-paced lifestyle.

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The word is that he earns $1.2 million a year, the highest for any AD in Colorado history. But his main job is raising money. His contract says that if he can bring in $25 million by June 2026, he gets a $200,000 bonus. It’s a big reward, but it’s funny to think that Lovo has to raise $25 million just to get what Deion makes in one week.

The goals get even bigger after that. By 2030, Lovo’s fundraising targets rise to $40 million, with bonuses going up to $250,000. The university is basically saying that if Lovo wants the big extra checks, he has to be the ultimate closer.

Judging solely based on these contracts and targets, safe to say Colorado is not playing around in the shallow end anymore this time. They are now fully committed to being a national powerhouse, and that means paying top dollar for both the talent on the sidelines and the executives in the office. Lovo has his work cut out for him, but if he hits those targets, both he and Coach Prime will be laughing all the way to the bank.

Before that, Fernando Lovo has to roll his sleeves up this offseason.

Colorado Buffaloes 2026 off-season manifesto

Fernando Lovo officially starts his new job on New Year’s Day 2026, and boy, he has a massive “to-do” list waiting for him. His biggest goal this off-season is to fix the school’s money situation. The athletic department is currently dealing with a $27 million deficit, so Lovo’s plan is to start with fundraising to hit those big bonuses in his contract and get the department’s bank account back in good shape.

Beyond the dollar signs, Lovo has a crucial football problem to sort out. Following a disappointing 3-9 season for the Buffs, he’ll be sitting down with Coach Deion Sanders to figure out what went wrong and how to improve on-field performance for the next season.

Lovo has a history of making great coaching hires at his previous job at the University of New Mexico, so a big part of his off-season will be evaluating all of CU’s athletic programs and making sure every team has what it needs to succeed.

Finally, Love is spending this time learning the ropes from the outgoing AD, Rick George. He wants to bring the same winning strategies he used at his last school to Boulder, focusing on things like selling more tickets and getting better sponsorship deals. Basically, his off-season plan is all about raising money, helping teams win, and making sure the “Prime Effect” keeps the university moving in the right direction.