3 Key Notes from Dan Bartholomae's Introduction as MSU AD
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EAST LANSING, Mich. --- Michigan State's new athletic director formally introduced himself to Spartan fans on Wednesday evening, and he didn't mince words.
MSU announced back on Monday that it would be hiring Western Michigan athletic director Dan Bartholomae to the same post in East Lansing. Bartholomae officially starts his new gig on August 31. Here are a few notes from his introductory press conference:
Transparency in 'Vision'
Bartholomae's level of transparency while he spoke was pretty admirable. Big, optimistic promises are pretty commonplace at these sort of intro pressers, and Bartholomae's wasn't any different in that way.
The phrase "national championship" really is getting tossed around a bunch at Michigan State, though, whether that's Bartholomae or new head football coach Pat Fitzgerald.
"I'm competitive," Bartholomae said during the formal, televised portion of his intro presser. "We will compete and we will win at the highest levels, and when you compete in the Big Ten Conference, that means national championships. I walked into the administrative building yesterday; I walked by that wall of national championships at the entrance to our offices on the way to this press conference, and I thought to myself, 'Folks, it has been too long.' We will play to win."
It's one thing to envision winning a national championship and actually doing it, but alignment on the overall goals for this department won't be an issue. Fitzgerald hasn't been shy about that being the ultimate goal for his football program, and Tom Izzo and Adam Nightingale are both coaches who have built teams who could potentially go the distance this coming season.
Bartholomae had the same vision when he got the AD job at Western Michigan, a place where national titles probably feel like a total pipe dream. The hockey program wound up being the last team standing in 2025, the first title in any sport for the Broncos in 60 years.
"I think talking that way was welcomed [at WMU]," he said. "What's exciting about this place is that I'm not the only one walking around talking that way. It's my job to activate that and draw a plan together and figure out a way to get it done. "
Past Connections
The people with big voices around Michigan State aren't strangers to Bartholomae, either. He's had past run-ins or connections with Kevin Guskiewicz, Fitzgerald, and Izzo that pre-date the hiring process of him to MSU.
Bartholomae first met Guskiewicz two years ago. This was when the Spartans' women's soccer team was taking on Western Michigan in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in East Lansing. Both of them have a lot in common, largely their Pittsburgh roots and fandom of the Steelers.
Fitzgerald and Bartholomae had perhaps the most unlikely run-in. Northwestern and Pitt were actually matched up in the 2016 Pinstripe Bowl. Fitzgerald was the NU head coach, and Bartholomae was actually serving as the acting AD for Pitt at the time. The two of them got to know each other a little bit in the events surrounding the bowl game.
"Pat Fitzgerald and his family were so warm and so welcoming in those moments. I mean, he was already built for it, right? I was just figuring it all out. That had always left an impression on me. In fact, I have a picture of him and I ringing the New York Stock Exchange bell."
Izzo just straight-up called him shortly after Bartholomae got the athletic director job at Western Michigan back in 2022.
"I was sitting in my office, and I get a random call from a 517 number, and I thought, 'Well, maybe I'll pick this up,'" Bartholomae recalled. "It was Coach [Izzo], calling simply to get to know me and to offer his advice and support to a new professional in the state who he saw had big dreams and big aspirations."
Used to Unusual Circumstances
Stepping into weird spots is also not a foreign concept for Bartholomae. Michigan State is entering its 2026 football season in a weird spot where it has both a new head coach and a new AD, but the AD isn't the person who hired the football coach.
"You're talking to a guy who had 15 years at the University of Pittsburgh..." Bartholomae said. "I had nine athletic directors in 15 years, and I won't even tell you how many football coaches we had in a four-year period. I think it's one of the things that I bring that might be different: I've seen transition from the other side, especially transition like that, and I know how hard it is."
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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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