Why MSU Is Losing Both Guskiewicz, Batt Within Weeks

It seemed like Michigan State had a good thing going for a bit. That is, for about six months.

MSU is set to lose both its president and athletic director. President Kevin Guskiewicz is going to Clemson; AD J Batt is now finalizing a deal to leave for Kentucky. Just like that, the two people with the most direct influence over Spartan athletics are making relatively lateral moves to other schools, with the decisions being separated by just more than two weeks.

Preventability

"Alignment" was a theme of Pat Fitzgerald's introductory press conference this past December. Michigan State finally had its president, AD, and head football coach working together. MSU had Guskiewicz and Batt together, but Jonathan Smith was hired before they arrived. The Guskiewicz-Batt-Fitzgerald trio will end up never being together for a single football game.

The chain of events that led to this starts with (you guessed it) the Board of Trustees. Tension between some members of the BoT and Guskiewicz about an amendment to the university's code of ethics that would limit public dissent from trustees in the media. A 5-3 vote passed the change, and it also doubled Guskiewicz's salary to $2 million.

The pay raise and the ethics code change seemed to be an effort to keep Guskiewicz. It didn't work, since he announced he would be leaving about a week later.

Guskiewicz specifically brought up the Board of Trustees, calling it an "unsustainable situation." He also said, "Too much energy has been spent revisiting past conflicts and internal disagreements rather than focusing collectively on the opportunities and aspirations ahead of us."

Domino Effect With Batt

Michigan State Director of Athletics J Batt watches a play against Western Michigan form the sideline during the second half at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing on Friday, August 29, 2025. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

No president means no more "alignment." Batt no longer has the boss who hired him around. That puts anyone on edge a little bit. There is no guarantee the next president will share the same vision for Michigan State athletics as Batt whatsoever. Guskiewicz and Batt really did seem to be on a similar footing together.

This is why Batt had a clause in his contract to make it easier to leave if Guskiewicz left. His buyout under his MSU deal was cut in half, from $5 million to $2.5 million, with the president's move. Smith had a similar clause that took effect when Alan Haller got fired; he was just in no position to leave for another head coaching job. Fitzgerald's contract doesn't seem to be impacted by Batt's departure.

April 18, 2026; East Lansing, Mich.; Michigan State head coach Pat Fitzgerald watches the action going on during MSU's "Spring Showcase" at Spartan Stadium. | Starr Portice, Michigan State Spartans on SI

Both of these seats may be vacant for a long time. Presidential searches can take more than a year, and finding a qualified athletic director will be very difficult without a permanent president in charge. Jon Palumbo is the interim AD for now, but there is no guarantee he won't follow Batt to Kentucky like he did Georgia Tech to MSU.

The constant changes in the president and athletic director positions are only going to make finding candidates for those positions tougher. Being a Big Ten program will help, but getting somebody to make a lateral move from a similar institution will be quite challenging.

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