Making Case for Jon Palumbo To Get MSU's Permanent AD Job
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Michigan State has a big decision to make in the near future.
Athletic director J Batt is -- officially, officially, officially now -- headed to Kentucky. An MSU spokesperson has said he's "transitioned away from operational duties" with the school and will use up remaining vacation time before starting at UK later this month. Kentucky will pay Michigan State $3.95 million as part of a negotiated buyout, which is a pretty large sum for an AD deal.
Palumbo in the Interim Seat
As Spartan Nation reported back when Batt was finalizing his deal with the Wildcats, Jon Palumbo is the Spartans' interim athletic director. The school made that official this past Friday.
Kevin Guskiewicz said on Friday via a press release that he will look at "both external and internal" candidates for the permanent athletic director job "over the coming weeks and months." Guskiewicz also recently announced last Monday that he would be returning to East Lansing after initially accepting the president role at Clemson. His formally pending departure is almost certainly a major reason why Batt quickly considered his options elsewhere.
Alas, Guskiewicz will certainly have a ton of influence over who eventually replaces Batt permanently. Having the right athletic director has always been important, but it feels like there is an added emphasis on the position nowadays.
The financial side of the job is so much more complex. Between the House settlement, NIL, revenue-sharing, and the transfer portal, it's just a completely different job than it was five or 10 years ago. With all that change happening, I don't think Michigan State needs to change all that much right now. There is a strong chance the right person for the job is already in the seat. Palumbo is qualified, and he deserves serious consideration for the permanent position.
Looking at Palumbo's Resume
The main reason I'd be "in" on Palumbo as the permanent AD is that there is a level of continuity to him getting the permanent gig that an external candidate wouldn't have. He worked pretty closely with Batt over the past year after following him to Michigan State from Georgia Tech. He's basically been Batt's right-hand man since he joined the Yellow Jackets' athletic department in late 2022.
That time at MSU is still a valuable part. Palumbo has been working directly to support the vision that Guskiewicz and Batt had for the future of Michigan State athletics, more specifically, Spartan Ventures. Palumbo was already set to be the affiliated company's CEO before Guskiewicz (originally), and Batt took other jobs.
Palumbo's work there carries even more weight, now that Guskiewicz has backed off his pledge to Clemson. It would be one thing for a candidate to support what Guskiewicz wants from his school's athletic department, but Palumbo has already shown it through his own actions and work. That's another separator from him and all others.
What's also important is that Palumbo understands the importance of football in an athletic department. He worked very closely with Georgia Tech's football program when he was there, and that's continued at MSU -- his bio with the school says he's the "primary sport administrator for football," and that he played a hand in the hiring of Pat Fitzgerald.
Tom Izzo and his men's basketball program may still be the face of the university, but football is the sport that basically pays for everything else. Palumbo's direct involvement with two different Power Four programs and two coaching hires (Brent Key at GT) is another major bullet point on his resume.
If you're worried he'll somehow neglect basketball, too, that won't happen. He was once the deputy athletic director at VCU from 2012 to 2018, and he was one of the people in charge of the athletic department there. The Rams made the NCAA Tournament during Palumbo's first five seasons there.
He also managed to run a budget surplus for several years there, which eventually allowed VCU to build a new practice facility. Palumbo was also there when former VCU coach Shaka Smart left for Texas. VCU wound up hiring Will Wade to replace Smart, making it to two more NCAA Tournaments before Wade left for LSU. Wade was replaced at the tail end of Palumbo's tenure there by Mike Rhoades, who is now the head coach at Penn State.
Palumbo has also run an athletic department before. He was the AD at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi from 2018 to 2022. His experience with basketball also showed here. He hired Steve Lutz as the Islanders' head coach in 2021, and Lutz immediately led TAMU-CC to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 15 years, then led them again the next season. Lutz is now the head coach at Oklahoma State.
Now, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi isn't operating at the scale Michigan State is, but Palumbo's resume shows he's ready for a shot as a Power Four athletic director. He's been linked to several successful coaching hires in the past, and his financial record is strong.
No AD experience at a larger school is the main concern, but perhaps it's time Michigan State gives someone their first truly big shot. All the reasons stated above are why I think the only thing Guskiewicz really needs to do is take the word "interim" off Palumbo's job title.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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