Michigan State didn’t hire Dan Bartholomae because Western Michigan won a hockey national title. They hired him because that title was the loudest receipt on a four-and-a-half-year operating record most Power conference schools still can’t match.
Bartholomae’s first day in East Lansing is August 31. He replaces J Batt, who lasted one year before Kentucky paid a negotiated $3.95 million buyout to pry him loose. WMU is owed $5.1 million on Bartholomae’s extension. The math is ugly on paper and still clean in practice: MSU is buying a proven multi-sport operator, not a one-sport story.
I keep coming back to the same calendar year. In 2025 the Broncos beat Boston University 6-2 for the program’s first NCAA hockey championship, then beat Miami (OH) 23-13 at Ford Field for the MAC football title. WMU became one of only three Division I schools to land a national hockey crown and an FBS conference football title in the same year. That is not vibes. That is simultaneous excellence in two sports with completely different roster construction, NIL markets, and facility demands.
The Hockey Title Was Proof of Concept, Not the Product
People will reduce this hire to “he won hockey, MSU wants hockey.” I don’t buy it. Under Bartholomae since January 1, 2022, Western Michigan piled up 37 conference championships, 35 NCAA postseason appearances, 17 All-Americans, and 38 conference specialty awards. Department GPA hit 3.42 with every program above 3.0. Fundraising reached a record $21.8 million in 2025-26. Average annual giving jumped 473 percent. Unique donors rose 105 percent. External operating revenue grew by more than $13 million. Privately funded facility work exceeded $18 million before you even count the $515 million downtown Kalamazoo arena—fully private money, basketball and hockey under one roof, targeted for 2027.
That is the job description for a modern athletic director. Hockey was the marquee validation that the machine worked when the lights were brightest. Bartholomae himself framed the exit the way operators talk when the foundation is real: “I am proud of the vision we created and achieved together. I am most proud that a strong foundation has been built—with the support of amazing community leaders—and will thrive into a dynamic future.” He called the WMU run his “greatest professional honor.” The bittersweet note is earned. The foundation claim is backed by the numbers.
MSU president Kevin Guskiewicz, who led the search after nearly bolting for Clemson himself, put the hire in the language of the current era: “The future of college athletics will belong to institutions that embrace innovation while remaining grounded in their mission… Dan shares that commitment and has the experience, vision and values to lead Spartan Athletics into its next era.” Innovation without a revenue engine is just a press release. Bartholomae already built the engine at a MAC school.
MSU Needed an Operator, Not Another Short-Timer
Batt’s one-year stop created a vacuum inside a department already staring at $500 million in approved Spartan Stadium renovations and the full weight of revenue sharing, roster limits, and collective chaos. Bartholomae’s pre-WMU résumé fits the moment: 15 years at Pittsburgh ending as deputy AD for internal affairs, five years at Oregon State as executive deputy AD/COO where he ran the $153 million Reser Stadium project. He is 46. He has already interviewed for this same MSU job once. He knows the building.
I hear the same skepticism I heard when Boston College brought Ben Smith back on staff—nostalgia accusations that ignored the actual track record. MSU is not chasing a hockey halo. It is paying for the guy who turned a mid-major into a 37-title department while locking down half a billion in private arena money and posting the kind of donor growth Power schools advertise and rarely deliver.
Bartholomae’s own arrival statement hits the only notes that matter in 2026: “Michigan State Athletics has everything required to thrive in this new era of college sports: top-level student-athletes, outstanding coaches, a global alumni network and a university leadership team committed to excellence… I am excited to get to work, listen, learn and help elevate Spartan Athletics to new standards.”
The elevation already has a template. Same-year national hockey title and FBS conference football title. Record fundraising. Private arena. Academic marks that don’t require a footnote. MSU just bought the operator who produced all of it at a resource disadvantage. If that doesn’t move the Spartans’ multi-sport floor, the problem isn’t the hire.
