Denver has named 2005 national champion Peter Mannino as its assistant athletic director for name, image and likeness (NIL).
Mannino will lead Denver’s NIL and strategy for the Pioneers’ varsity athletic programs. The position will have a strong focus on building out an academic program with DU’s Daniels College of Business and its Sturm College of Law to educate student-athletes, foster academic collaborations and aid in empowering authentic NIL opportunities for Pioneer student athletes.
He will also be responsible for monitoring the NIL landscape on behalf of the department to help form the evolving direction DU will take to maintain its student athlete academic achievement, its broad-based nationally recognized athletic success and its alignment with university, state, federal and NCAA regulations.
“Throughout the hiring process, it was critical that we pursued an administrator with the passion to support and guide the Pioneers into a new age of intercollegiate athletics, and I’m confident that Peter Mannino is the right individual to lead us forward into the post-House NCAA landscape and internally-managed NIL space,” DU vice chancellor for athletics Josh Berlo said in a statement. “Any time you can bring a former Pio home, it’s special, but in this case, it’s Peter’s fit for the position, intimate knowledge of DU, experience and expertise that set him apart. His desire to develop an entrepreneurial spirit among our student-athletes, partner with faculty, create authentic NIL opportunities while having an ability to keep a pulse on recruiting climates in the evolving NIL environment for us to remain competitive excite me for the future of our department.
“The creation of this position, and Peter’s desire to execute a comprehensive program that benefits our nationally competitive men’s and women’s teams will provide great value to our student-athletes. We will continue to prioritize the student-athlete experience and strive for national athletic prominence, as we have always done, in the Denver way. We’re excited to welcome the Manninos back to DU.”
In February, Denver announced its intention to opt-in to the new landscape of collegiate athletics following the approval of the House v NCAA settlement in June. In 2020, the NCAA deregulated restrictions on student-athletes being able to profit from their own name, image and likeness. This summer, the House v NCAA settlement removed scholarship limits, set roster limits and modified restrictions on NIL to permit schools to be directly involved. The settlement also permits institutions to directly compensate student-athletes through revenue sharing.
“With regard to the evolving world of college athletics, the mission and values of the university have and will continue to stand the test of time. Great coaches and the recruitment of well-rounded student-athletes that fit into our culture are the foundation of a model that was important on our campus all the way back to the late Daniel L. Ritchie’s vision to elevate Denver to Division I,” Berlo said. “While we are evolving and adapting to the new model of college athletics, the model of broad based competitive and academic excellence isn’t changing at DU. I’m confident that we can continue to be successful with increases in scholarships, Alston stipends, as well as authentic and in-house NIL opportunities that include an integration with our academic programs. We won’t compromise who we are, and our ability to prepare student-athletes academically, athletically and most importantly for a life after college while concurrently shining a bright light on our incredible institution.”
A 2008 graduate of DU with a degree in business management, Mannino will be Denver’s administrator responsible for contracts in both the NIL space and will serve as a resource for Denver’s unique approach to the current climate of intercollegiate athletics in conversations with student-athletes, coaches, recruits and parents. Mannino will be responsible for educating both current and prospective student-athletes and their families on the contract and business side of authentic NIL opportunities.
“I am incredibly grateful to Josh Berlo, Josh Boone and the entire committee for having the trust in me to join the athletic administration in this newly created position,” Mannino said. “Joining a department with such a strong culture and winning mentality is truly an honor. In my conversations during the hiring process, I was excited about the department’s commitment to evolve its model of the student-athlete experience and comprehensive athletic success across its programs.
“My family and I are excited to return home to Denver and begin this next chapter, especially at such a pivotal time in college athletics as NIL and revenue sharing reshape the landscape. I’m eager to contribute to the University of Denver’s proud championship tradition and help elevate the experience and success of our student-athletes. Finally, a special thank you to Greg Grauberger and Nancy Sampson for their endless support of my family and the University of Denver.”
As a student-athlete at DU, Mannino was named the 2005 NCAA tournament’s most outstanding player after backstopping the Pioneers in Columbus to their seventh national championship, saving 44 shots in the title game to cap off his freshman season. Mannino still owns the Pioneers’ program record for shutouts with 15 and holds two of the top five longest shutout streaks in program history, including the second longest at 208:42 during the 2005 title run. The Farmington Hills, Mich., native is tied with 2024 NCAA tournament MOP and 2025 alum Matt Davis for the fifth-most wins in program history with 63, while sitting seventh in goalie games played (103), 10th in saves (2,552) and 11th in goals against average (2.35).
After playing collegiately at Denver, Manino’s professional hockey career included NHL stints with the New York Islanders, Atlanta Thrashers and Winnipeg Jets. Mannino also played in the AHL with seven organizations that ended in the 2014-15 campaign with the Binghamton Senators.
After the conclusion of his playing career, Mannino got into coaching, serving stints as an assistant with the USHL’s Chicago Steel (2015-17), Omaha (2017-18), Miami (2018-19) and most recently with Colorado College (2021-25). In between associate head coach stints at Miami and CC, Mannino was the head coach and GM of the USHL’s Des Moines Buccaneers (2019-21), where he planned and scheduled all of the organization’s operations, hired and managed staff, raised over $200,000 for the organization and managed contract negotiations and the execution of those contracts.
