INSIDER: What’s next for Jon Palumbo as Dan Bartholomae takes over at Michigan State

Dan Bartholomae’s hiring answered the biggest question hanging over Michigan State athletics for the past several weeks.

It also created another one: what happens now with Jon Palumbo?

When J Batt left Michigan State for Kentucky, Palumbo stepped into the breach as interim athletic director, taking responsibility for an athletic department suddenly facing another leadership transition while Michigan State conducted its search for a permanent replacement.

For several weeks, he occupied the most visible administrative position in MSU athletics, dealt directly with coaches and staff throughout the department, and helped carry the operation from one permanent athletic director to the next.

Bartholomae’s arrival brings that part of Palumbo’s job to an end. He will turn over the athletic director’s office to the man Michigan State hired to lead it permanently and step away from the interim responsibilities he assumed after Batt’s departure.

Palumbo remained CEO of Spartan Ventures throughout his stint as interim athletic director, continuing to lead an organization that has an enormous footprint across Michigan State athletics.

Now that Bartholomae has been hired, Palumbo is returning his full attention to that job after spending several weeks seeing MSU athletics from a perspective almost nobody in his position ever gets to experience.

And what happened during those weeks may matter considerably as Michigan State enters its next era.

Behind the paywall, we explain why Jon Palumbo’s role at Michigan State extends far beyond the interim AD title, reveal new reporting on how his leadership has been received inside the department, break down the vast areas of MSU athletics that report through Spartan Ventures, the equally broad operation Dan Bartholomae will control, and the unusual governance structure that means Palumbo’s future is not simply Bartholomae’s decision. We also examine how the two massive, overlapping organizations will have to work together – and why the relationship between Palumbo and Bartholomae could become one of the most important inside Michigan State athletics.