New AD Batt: Michigan St. football must lead way

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- J Batt said Michigan State has a top-10 athletic department in the country.

The school's next athletic director made it clear that the football program must lead the way to make his statement ring true.

The Spartans have been shaky in recent years in the sport that pays the bills in college athletics, losing seven games last year in coach Jonathan Smith's debut season.

"It comes down to resources and across the board, we will provide him and his staff with resources," Batt said Wednesday when he was formally introduced.

Batt left Georgia Tech, where he was its athletic director since the fall of 2022, to take on the challenge of raising money and turning around a football program in the highly competitive Big Ten.

The university's Board of Trustees, which approved the selection, is scheduled to vote on Batt's hiring on June 13 and his first day on the job is June 16. Batt replaces Alan Haller, whose last day was May 11.

Batt helped Georgia Tech bounce back in football.

He hired coach Brent Key, who led the program to consecutive bowl games for the first time in a decade and earned a spot in The Associated Press Top 25 for the first time in nine years.

In Batt's first season at Georgia Tech, 14 of 17 teams were in a postseason tournament.

Before leading Georgia Tech's athletic department, he was executive deputy athletic director at Alabama and served as chief operating officer and chief revenue officer in the athletic department.

Izzo reached out to his friend, former Alabama and Michigan State coach Nick Saban, as part of the school's search.

"Nick had great comments about him," Izzo said.

Batt recalled Saban speaking so fondly about Michigan State.

"He's always been so positive about this place," Batt said.

Batt also worked in athletics at East Carolina, Maryland, James Madison, William & Mary and North Carolina, where he played on the 2011 national championship soccer team.

Batt is regarded as a strong fundraiser, an asset for any athletic department in this era of college athletics.

At Michigan State, his top priorities will be to raise money and help the football program win.

Universities will be allowed to share up to $20.5 million in revenue with athletes next year. Direct payments will be in addition to third-party name, image and likeness deals facilitated by school-affiliated collectives.

"We're going to be extremely successful and competitive in that space," Batt said.