INSIDER: One-on-one with MSU AD Dan Bartholomae as he lays out his priorities and plans
On his first drive home since taking the job, MSU's new athletic director talks roster resources, Spartan Ventures, fundraising, and the future of Spartan Stadium
Dan Bartholomae was finally headed home Thursday evening.
Fourteen business days after officially taking over as Michigan State’s athletic director, he had yet to make it back to southwest Michigan to see his family. His days in East Lansing had routinely begun around 7 a.m. and stretched until 11 p.m., filled with meetings, introductions, donor conversations, football weekends, personnel changes, facility projects, and the other demands that come with taking over a Big Ten athletic department in September.
So when Bartholomae pointed his car west Thursday, Spartans Illustrated spent part of that drive on the phone with him.
He was headed home because his 16-year old son, Dylan, had what Bartholomae described as his biggest soccer game of the year Thursday night. His 14-year old daughter, Lilly, will cheer at the Mattawan football game Friday. Bartholomae planned to work from home Friday before the family headed to South Bend for Michigan State’s game against Notre Dame.
Then, on Sunday, he would fly to Chicago for a meeting of Big Ten athletic directors.
Calling it a break, he quickly pointed out, would be inaccurate.
“It’s not a break,” Bartholomae said with a laugh.
He'll simply work from a location that will allow him to see the people he had barely seen since accepting the Michigan State job.
That was the backdrop as Bartholomae spoke at length with Spartans Illustrated about what he has discovered during his first weeks at MSU and, perhaps more importantly, what he intends to do about it.
The wide-ranging conversation included his No. 1 financial priority, what Michigan State needs from the next CEO of Spartan Ventures, why the departures of Jon Palumbo and Tim House should not be interpreted as a new athletic director cleaning house, the future of MSU’s expanded fundraising operation, the $500 million reconstruction of Spartan Stadium’s east side, the still-evolving Spartan Stadium District, and how he intends to treat programs that will never generate football-level revenue.
Fourteen business days in, some of his priorities are already unmistakable.
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