Michigan State Appoints Interim Athletic Director
Michigan State University President Kevin M. Guskiewicz announced today that Jon Palumbo has been named the university’s interim director of intercollegiate athletics. This appointment is effective immediately, coinciding with the impending departure of J Batt from the university. President Guskiewicz expressed confidence in Palumbo’s ability to maintain the positive trajectory of MSU Athletics, anticipating a seamless transition for the department and a successful start to the upcoming season for its programs and student-athletes.
Palumbo currently serves as MSU’s executive deputy athletics director and chief operating officer. He also holds the role of CEO of Spartan Ventures, a position he will continue to hold. During his time as interim athletic director, Palumbo will designate an appointee to fill the board position typically held by the athletic director.
Palumbo’s Extensive Background in Collegiate Athletics
Palumbo joined Michigan State University in July 2025. His responsibilities at the university include serving as the primary sport administrator for football and providing leadership across various departments. He oversees several units, including finance and budget, event operations, facilities, capital projects, strategic initiatives, and equipment.
Before his arrival in East Lansing, Palumbo worked at Georgia Tech, where he collaborated with J Batt to enhance Georgia Tech Athletics. His work there involved implementing strategic initiatives and key coaching hires. He joined Georgia Tech in November 2022 as executive deputy athletics director and chief operating officer. When Batt’s move to Michigan State was announced in June 2025, Palumbo was appointed vice president and interim director of athletics at Georgia Tech.
At Georgia Tech, Palumbo was involved in the operations of the athletics department and the Yellow Jackets football program. He played a role in the program’s recent success, which included achieving back-to-back bowl appearances in 2023 and 2024. Palumbo also led the planning and execution for significant capital projects, such as the Thomas A. Fanning Student-Athlete Performance Center, a facility designed to house resources for training, nutrition, sports medicine, sports science, and analytics.
His experience also includes overseeing event operations and fan engagement strategies, including the launch of the Helluva Block Party, which became a gameday tradition for Georgia Tech football. Prior to his tenure in Atlanta, Palumbo was the director of athletics at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. During his four years in that role, from 2018 to 2022, the school achieved notable success, including a school-record seven Southland Conference championships in 2021-22. This period also saw the school claim the Southland Conference’s women’s all-sports championship and the Southland Conference’s Academic Performance Award for the first time in its history.
Palumbo hired Steve Lutz as the Islanders’ head men’s basketball coach in 2021. Under Lutz, the program made its first NCAA tournament appearance in 15 years in 2022, followed by another trip in 2023, and secured the Islanders’ first-ever NCAA tournament win. Before his time at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Palumbo served as deputy athletics director at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) from 2012 through 2018. At VCU, he supervised the daily operations of the athletics department and was the administrator for the Rams’ men’s basketball program, which made five straight NCAA tournament appearances between 2013 and 2017.
Palumbo’s professional journey also includes roles at the University of Maryland, American University, the College of William & Mary, and LaSalle University. He played baseball at LaSalle, where he was a team captain and a member of the Athletics Relations Council. He graduated with honors in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in communication and earned an MBA from LaSalle in 2003.
Details of Batt’s Departure
J Batt’s new job start date and the terms of his contract buyout have been finalized. He is set to officially take over as Kentucky athletic director on July 28. Kentucky will pay Michigan State a $3.95 million buyout for Batt breaking his six-year, $12.6 million-plus contract, which he signed last year when he was hired by MSU. The terms of the buyout were negotiated down from the $5 million MSU was initially owed under Batt’s contract.
Batt’s contract included an escape clause that would have cut his buyout in half if MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz had departed. However, Guskiewicz announced on Monday that he would remain in East Lansing, declining a job offer from Clemson. Batt was hired by MSU from Georgia Tech on June 2, 2025, and accepted the Kentucky job on June 15, just over a year later.
Batt earned $1.85 million in base pay during his year at MSU, with an annual increase of $100,000 scheduled for July 1. His contract projected annual raises, reaching up to $2.35 million in the final year of the deal (2030-31), and also included unspecified annual bonuses based on meeting goals established each June with the university president. Kentucky has offered Batt a six-year contract that reportedly pays him nearly $3 million annually, where he will serve as both athletic director and CEO of the school’s Champions Blue organization.
MSU Vice President and Chief Communications Officer Emily Gerkin Guerrant stated on Monday that Batt remains an employee and is reporting to work at the school, with a departure date expected to be finalized soon.
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Source: eu.freep.com
