MSU AD Dan Bartholomae Stability and Vision for Michigan State

Thu, Aug 20, 2026

Video Transcript

I think that it certainly played a part.

we actually moved.

Probably a little slower than we did, uh, a year, a year, year and a half ago, uh, on the hire, uh, but, uh, it was important to, to get the right person, and, uh , you know, it's gonna be great that Dan will be here for that kickoff, uh, uh, you know, first kickoff of the season here at Spartan Stadium just like he was last year.

That's what that photo was taken, I think, and um.

But I, uh, we were very deliberate in making certain that we found the right person who has the, understands what it means to lead a big-time college, uh, sports enterprise, uh, has the business acumen in the sense to, to do all the things we want to do with the stadium district and Spartan Ventures, uh, running it like a CEO of a major corporation, but also.

Someone who can relate to coaches and student-athletes and, uh, uh, it's, there aren't a lot of them out there that that can do both really well.

I can guarantee you that, that this guy can, uh, and I've done my homework.

I've talked to coaches that have worked for him, uh, and I've talked to the business folks who have worked alongside him.

So, uh, we took a little longer.

Uh, we got it done before the first football game, but we, all the pieces are in place.

The second part of that.

We're coming up now on almost a decade, I think it's been 8 years.

5 different athletic directors wondering about the stability piece, the importance of that for the university, but also to get those kind of projects done to, to not have constant change at that position.

Yeah, well, I think Dan's already said that he's coming into a very good situation.

Uh, he doesn't have to stand up Spartan Ventures and Spartan Media Ventures because we're there.

That was a heavy lift over the past 78 months and, and very happy that that he's coming in already asking the right questions around that.

So there's already a foundation there.

Um, uh, we have an incredible staff here and let me just say, I, as I, I acknowledged them earlier, uh, change is difficult, and they, they, there's been, there's been a lot of change to your point, uh , over the past decade.

Um, and, um, but I, I, because they believe in the place, the staff believes in the place and the way that, that Dan, uh, builds relationships quickly and has already done that over the past, uh, week, uh, I think we're going to be in a good place, uh, but, uh, uh, this guy's gonna be here for, for a long time and, uh, I think.

Uh, be pleased.