‘This was the one I wanted’: Dan Bartholomae arrives at MSU with big plans
MSU’s new athletic director is selling championships, stability, and a bold vision – but his optimism is rooted in the people, structure, and resources already in place
The setting was fitting.
Michigan State introduced Dan Bartholomae as its next athletic director Wednesday afternoon at the Breslin Center, just outside the Tom Izzo Hall of History, with an audience filled with coaches, their staffs, and hundreds of athletic department employees.
The band was there. Sparty was there. President Kevin Guskiewicz talked about championships already won and the ones Michigan State wants to win next.
Bartholomae eventually had the room on its feet for what he hoped would be the loudest "Go Green, Go White" ever delivered at an introductory athletic director press conference.
There was talk of national championships, green and white confetti, and something Bartholomae calls "dream energy."
Introductory press conferences are, by their nature, optimistic affairs. Nobody introduces a new athletic director by laying out all the reasons things might go wrong.
What made Bartholomae's introduction more interesting was how often the optimism was attached to something tangible.
He did not describe Michigan State as a rebuilding job. He described it as a place that already possesses most of what it needs and has not yet figured out how to fully harness it. He endorsed the unusual Spartan Ventures structure he inherited.
He praised Jon Palumbo and made clear he views him as part of MSU's future. He talked about expanding the donor base rather than simply asking the same wealthy supporters for more money. He identified premium seating, fan amenities, and naming rights as revenue opportunities. He promised a hands-on relationship with coaches and athletes. He spoke openly about national championships.
Most importantly for an athletic department that has cycled through leadership for nearly a decade, Bartholomae repeatedly talked like someone who intends to stay.
"This is the opportunity of a lifetime," Bartholomae said. "It is a destination job, and I am incredibly grateful that you have entrusted me to deliver."
Later, when asked how long Michigan State had been the job he wanted, he removed any ambiguity.
"It's been a bucket list job from the moment that I walked in to the office at Western Michigan in 2022," Bartholomae said. "I've had my eye on this place. Kevin knows that. Others know that too. I've walked around these events. We've played here and I've taken notes. And this was the one I wanted. Always has been."
For a Michigan State fan base that has spent years watching athletic directors, presidents, and football coaches come and go, that alone was probably something worth hearing.
The more important question is what Bartholomae intends to do now that he has the job.
His first few days offered some clues.
He doesn't believe Michigan State needs to start over
Bartholomae does not officially begin as Michigan State's athletic director until Aug. 31, but he arrived in East Lansing Monday night and immediately began working through the department he is about to inherit.
By Wednesday, he had already held individual meetings with five head coaches and four administrators. Pat Fitzgerald was the first coach on his calendar. He spent approximately two hours Tuesday with Palumbo, MSU's interim athletic director and CEO of Spartan Ventures.
What Bartholomae found did not sound to him like a broken operation.
"This place is in great shape, with great opportunity to elevate quickly," he said.
Bartholomae acknowledged repeatedly that there is work to do, but he does not appear to believe Michigan State must tear everything apart and begin again. His view is that much of the infrastructure, talent, institutional support, and financial potential already exists.
"The foundation that already exists" was one of the three reasons he gave for choosing MSU.
"Everyone I met with yesterday said essentially the same thing," Bartholomae said. "Everything we need to achieve our most aspirational goals is already here."
He then started listing them.
"This is Michigan State, all right? We have big goals: (the) For Sparta (capital campaign), the Stadium District (proposal), Spartan Ventures, the Big Ten, supporting this new outstanding football coach we have to win at the highest levels, NCAA championships."
The conclusion was even more emphatic.
"We should never, never settle for anything less than the best, because the best is right here at our disposal already."
That is ultimately the case Bartholomae is making to Michigan State supporters: This is not a sales pitch about what MSU might someday become if everything changes. It is an argument that Michigan State already possesses the raw materials to compete at the highest level and needs to organize, activate, and invest in them more effectively.
Guskiewicz appears to share that belief.
He opened Wednesday's press conference by pointing to what already exists: 23 varsity sports, recent conference championships, NCAA tournament appearances, academic success, and student-athletes who collectively surpassed a 3.5 cumulative GPA for the first time in department history.
Then he turned toward where he believes Bartholomae can take it.
"Dan will lead an already strong program," Guskiewicz said, "and I'm certain he will push us all to new areas of excellence."
Spartan Ventures is part of the plan, not something Bartholomae intends to undo
One of the biggest questions surrounding Bartholomae's arrival involved an organizational structure that did not exist the last time Michigan State conducted an athletic director search.
Spartan Ventures was created this summer as a nonprofit designed to house MSU athletics' commercial operations alongside the traditional athletic department. The Spartan Athletic Foundation functions as its nonprofit fundraising arm, while the related Spartan Media Ventures is a separate for-profit corporation designed to pursue commercial opportunities and outside investment.
That structure leaves Michigan State with an athletic director overseeing traditional departmental functions while Palumbo, as CEO of Spartan Ventures, leads another major piece of the operation.
It is different, and Bartholomae is fine with that.
"It's here to stay, and I'm sold on it," he said.
Bartholomae said portions of the model resemble concepts that have been discussed throughout Division I athletics, so he did not arrive unfamiliar with the philosophy behind it. He described the structure as "innovative" and acknowledged that it is still being built.
That gives him an opportunity to shape it.
"We've got to get it organized and completed, and Jon's on that," Bartholomae said.
His first extended meeting with Palumbo appears to have reinforced rather than diminished his confidence in the arrangement.
In his prepared remarks, Bartholomae called their two-hour conversation "the most educational two hours that I've had since I've been on campus."
He then made his assessment of Palumbo clear.
"Jon is incredibly talented, and you all were incredibly lucky to have him serve this university as Interim Athletic Director, and he did it with incredible skill and professionalism," Bartholomae said. "I'm very much looking forward to being on a team with him."
Later, during a separate media session, he was even more direct.
"Jon Palumbo is really, really good," Bartholomae said.
Palumbo, he added, was "a really, really important part of getting Spartan Ventures stood up" and is "an important part of the future here."
I asked Bartholomae directly whether he intended to personally occupy the athletic director's seat on the Spartan Ventures Board of Directors or designate someone else to sit in his place.
His answer was immediate.
"I'm going to sit on the Board of Directors," Bartholomae said.
Bartholomae will not merely lead the traditional athletic department while Spartan Ventures operates alongside him. He will have a direct role in the governance of the new organization while Palumbo continues building it.
What Bartholomae thinks needs improvement at this point is not necessarily the concept itself. It is the understanding of it.
"We need to do a really great job of explaining it moving forward," he said. "Because, again, it goes back to vision. If people understand the vision and they buy into the vision, they're going to support it."
That sentence connects Spartan Ventures to perhaps the most consistent theme Bartholomae has expressed since arriving.
He believes people need something to believe in before they are asked to pay for it.
Vision comes before the fundraising ask
Bartholomae's reputation at Western Michigan was built in part on his ability to find money and, particularly, new donors.
When asked Wednesday how he intends to activate people who have not historically contributed to Michigan State athletics, he repeatedly returned to the same answer.
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How Bartholomae plans to grow MSU’s donor base
The Tom Izzo call that shaped his view of Michigan State
Why Bartholomae was already on Guskiewicz’s radar
How close he came to the MSU job a year earlier
Their plan to end MSU’s leadership instability
Bartholomae’s contract and $5.1 million buyout
Where he sees untapped revenue at MSU
His approach to NIL and roster investment
Why he views athletics as a tool to elevate the university
What his “dream energy” could mean for MSU’s future
