Role for Palumbo To Be Huge for Michigan State Moving Forward

EAST LANSING, Mich. --- Everybody at Michigan State is looking around a little bit to figure out who is in charge.

President Kevin Guskiewicz is headed to Clemson, and athletic director J Batt is headed to Kentucky. Somebody has to take over for both of them in the interim. An interim president has not been named, but Jon Palumbo is currently expected to take the interim AD role. No formal announcement has been made, but he's the No. 1 option. Note: Palumbo will not be considered for the permanent AD role.

Palumbo's Importance Inside the Department

Palumbo was essentially second in line in the athletic department behind Batt, making him the logical choice to serve as interim athletic director. His titles included executive deputy AD, Chief Operating Officer, and soon-to-be CEO of Spartan Ventures, which is still set to launch in July.

Keeping Palumbo will be a big need for MSU. He followed Batt to East Lansing from Georgia Tech last year. The Spartans are going to need somebody in charge of the athletic department for several months. No permanent president in place likely means no athletic director. That will take some time.

Michigan State executive deputy AD Jon Palumbo discusses the departure of J Batt at Spartan Stadium on June 15, 2026. | Jacob Cotsonika, Michigan State Spartans on SI

They cannot let him and Batt become a package deal again. Palumbo, who has a few years of Division I AD experience from his time at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, didn't indicate that would be the case on Monday.

"I plan to be here," he told Spartan Nation. "I'm going to keep doing the job I'm doing. I'll have conversations with the folks on campus about what the transition looks like, but I'm focused on doing the job here."

Projecting Strength With Spartan Ventures

MSU executive deputy athletic director Jon Palumbo answers questions during an announcement of Michigan State Athletics and MSUFCU’s jersey patch sponsorship on Monday, June 15, 2026, at the MSUFCU Club in Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

One factor that makes the timing of Batt's departure so interesting is that Spartan Ventures is set to launch soon -- July 1, to be exact. Palumbo says Batt will still be around for a few more weeks during the transitional period, but the on-schedule launch of Spartan Ventures will help maintain some strength.

"We're all systems go," Palumbo said. "We're pushing forward. A lot of the work that I've been doing personally over the last 10 months has been towards the launch of Spartan Ventures. We've got great alignment. All the people who have been involved in helping us stand that up are 100% with us, and we're going to keep that momentum going."

Palumbo getting Spartan Ventures off the ground will be a big step toward improving the NIL and financial situation at Michigan State. Plenty of schools have been doing this. One of Batt's new duties at Kentucky is to serve as the CEO of Champions Blue in Lexington, a relatively similar concept to Spartan Ventures.

"We're able to execute deals like this one [for jersey patches with MSUFCU] with a little more pace and a little more creativity than maybe under the higher ed umbrella, which is, again, one of the main reasons why Spartan Ventures has come to be," Palumbo said.

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