Vice President/Director of Athletics J Batt Introductory Press Conference Coverage

EAST LANSING, Mich. – J Batt, who was announced on Monday as the Vice President/Director of Athletics at Michigan State University, held his introductory press conference in front of supporters, athletics staff and media on Wednesday inside the Greg and Dawn Williams Lobby at the Tom Izzo Football Building. The event was televised live on the Big Ten Network.

MSU President Kevin M. Guskiewicz, Ph.D., and men's basketball head coach Tom Izzo introduced Batt.

Below is a transcript from the press conference:

Opening comments:

Michigan State University President Kevin M. Guskiewicz, Ph.D.

Thanks to everyone for joining us, it is a great day to be a Spartan. I'm thrilled that so many of you could join us today to welcome a new leader to our team, and to our Spartan family here at Michigan State University. I also want to acknowledge attending board of trustee members: Kelly Tebay, Rebecca Bahar-Cook, Mike Balow, Dennis Denno, Renee Knake Jefferson, and Rema Vassar. Thank you for joining us today.

I want to thank our trustees, and other campus leaders and external advisers for their support of me during this very important search and providing important insights to the search firm to help us develop the leadership profile for this position. When I set out on this search, I told our board of trustees that we were going to aim big, we were going to aim high, and I appreciate that they supported me in running the search with the freedom to go land an outstanding, top-tier athletic director. And top tier is what we are getting in J Batt.

Michigan State is proud to boast one of the nation's most storied athletic programs. We are home to 23 varsity sports, a passionate fan base, a long legacy of academic and athletic excellence, and an ambitious future. Over the past year alone, our student athletes have delivered powerful performances and achieved notable successes. From Big Ten Championship in men's basketball and hockey, to historic NCAA tournament appearances in multiple sports, our teams, athletes, and department staff continue to represent Michigan State University with pride on the national stage. This month, for example, men's tennis's Ozan Baris is representing us in the USTA's US Open Wildcard playoffs, and three Spartans compete in the NCAA outdoor track and field championships coming up.

And we are excelling in the classroom as well. This spring, our student athletes posted a cumulative GPA of 3.37, the highest in department history. These accomplishments reflect the resilience, drive, and dedication that define Spartan Nation, and they form a strong foundation for even greater success in the years to come. So, we are definitely a program achieving and aspiring for more greatness, and I know that J Batt will lead us forward for much more success ahead. I'll have more to say in a bit about J Batt, but first, I want to have coach Tom Izzo to come up and say a few words. Coach Izzo has been a valued partner by my side over these past 15 months. I started March 4 of last year (2024), and today I think may be the start of month 16. Coach Izzo, I can't thank you enough for all that you've done for me personally, but for your love and dedication to Michigan State University. So, with that, I want to welcome Coach Tom Izzo.

MSU men's basketball head coach Tom Izzo

Well, this is an unbelievable crowd. I think this shows the Batts the excitement that Michigan State brings, and it's great to have everyone here, and my good friend Gregory Eaton. I think, Gregory, that we're going to give the youngest in the crowd—that's one of the Batt boys—and we're going to give the oldest in the crowd to you, but gosh darn it you look dang good right now. So, thank you Gregory for coming.

I got the privilege to fly down and meet with J and Leah, and it was what we were looking for. It's a new era, unfortunately or fortunately, where we have to do a lot with the NIL and fundraising, and he's been at some good places. He worked a little bit with Gary Williams at Maryland, and of course, he worked five or six years with Nick Saban. If you can work for those two guys, you can work for anybody is the way I look at it. Both of them had great comments about him and I think that is valuable to us, and to me. I know those of us that believe in having success, I think he's been places that have had success. The commissioner of the ACC, Jim Phillips, who's a friend of ours and a guy I really respect, had rave reviews about J.

So, it's 'speed dating.' That's what the portal is, and that's the way it is getting to hiring coaches. You only have a couple of days and then everybody's has to make decisions. I can promise you that from our standpoint, we did our work in a couple of days to try to make sure that we vetted everything that was right for Michigan State.

I would just end it by saying this. There's no coach, there's no president – sorry Mr. President (Guskiewicz) – there's no program here that's going to do as well as they should do without all of us together, and I think that is the name of the game. Part of his (J Batt's) success will be the success we help him get. So, we all have an obligation in this. We all have an obligation. Whether it be our donors, whether it be our assistant coaches, or anybody else. We all have a valuable reason because we all love this place. And the place, we all know we have been through a lot, but I also look at the opportunity and that's what I said to J and his wife (Leah) when we visited them, and that's what I say now.

So, I just wanted to tell you from this standpoint; Jen (Smith) is on a zoom call, I guess, taking care of some business. She has done an incredible job as interim AD. I kind of went along for the ride, and I appreciate all the letters from all of you giving me advice to fire the men's head basketball coach while I'm interim AD. I did think about it on a big note, but I decided that I wanted to be a part of where we are going, and I end it with what I said about Kevin (Guskiewicz). Some of us were on a committee, and I look at two things in life: You're either going to fly like an airplane, or you're going to take off like a rocket. And right now, we have to take off like a rocket because nobody waits for athletics. Nobody waits. They want instant success and instant credibility. I think that we got a guy that can hit the ground running because of where he's been and what he's been through, and has the knowledge of the new era, which I'm trying to get some knowledge of myself. But I think you're all going to be really excited. I know Lupe and I were, and I know the president was. And I'll turn it back over to you to do your real formal introduction, but I appreciate the incredible turnout for something like this. It really speaks volumes of who we are, what we are, and now it's going to be what can we become. So, thank you.

Michigan State University President Kevin M. Guskiewicz, Ph.D.

Thank you, Coach Izzo. This is about family, and you look around this room, it's family. And that's what Amy and I felt about a year and a half ago, when we started exploring the opportunity, and that's why I wanted Coach Izzo and Lupe, Dawn Williams, Greg Williams, and Amy and I to go down and spend a little bit of time with the Batt family, and look what's happened. But, Coach, thank you for all that you do, thank you. I want to also acknowledge and thank Jen Smith, our other co-interim athletics director. Where is Jen? She's way back there – round of applause for Jen Smith. Thank you, and your work is not finished, Coach Izzo and Jen, because I think we still got about 12-14 days to go.

So, while we have so much to be excited about, and this family, it's also a reality that things are changing, as coach said earlier. Athletics across the U.S. is at a pivotal point, one where innovation, effective communication, and community engagement have become more important than ever before. Just over a month ago, I announced a national search for our next athletic director. We sought a leader who could best navigate the changing landscape of intercollegiate athletics. One who can work closely with both internal and external stakeholders to move Michigan State University forward as a leader among the Power 4 institutions. We hired Turnkey, Chad Chatlos, helped us lead the search from Turnkey. Many of you know Chad. Chad's father played on our 1965-66 National Championship football teams here at Michigan State University. I wanted Chad to lead that search because he knows what Michigan State University family is about, and what it means. I asked him at the front end of this search, I said, 'I want to know who the top five or six people in the country are.' And he said, 'Do you want to know the top five or six that are moveable, or do you want to do the top five or six?' I said, 'Chad, Michigan State deserves the best. I want to know who the best five or six are.' The top of that list was the guy that we got. He said, 'I'm not sure he's movable.' I said, 'Get him on the phone.' Chad got him on the phone. We got him on a zoom interview. We got him down in Atlanta. And so, I can't thank Chad Chatlos, Turnkey, for helping to make this possible. But Michigan State University deserves the best, and that's what we got.

And so today, I am excited to welcome J Batt as our next Vice President, and Director of Athletics at Michigan State University, and to welcome J's spouse, Leah, and their sons to the Michigan State family and to Spartan Nation. J is a visionary leader with a strong record of success, a deep commitment to student-athlete development, and a passion for building championship caliber programs rooted in integrity and academic excellence. As director of athletics at Georgia Tech, he led unprecedented growth in both fundraising and facility development. Earlier, as a senior athletics administrator at the University of Alabama, he helped build national championship programs and elevate student-athlete support systems. J is committed to excellence in every dimension of the student-athlete experience, competitive success, academic achievement, personal development, and community engagement – something that's critically important in this new era that Coach Izzo just talked about. His vision aligns seamlessly with our institutional values and our shared commitment to integrity, equity, and the holistic development of all who wear the green and white. In addition to the transitional stewardship of Tom Izzo and Jen Smith, I also want to take an opportunity to thank Alan Haller for his three-plus years of leadership of our athletic department, which he performed with commitment, honesty, and integrity.

And now, I look forward to a new era of success in the dynamic environment of intercollegiate athletics. This is an exciting development for our university and our collective Spartan spirit, which has never been stronger. So, please join me in welcoming Michigan State's next Director of Athletics, our 21st director, J Batt.

Vice President/Director of Athletics J Batt
Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you so much for being here. This is an incredible moment for me, for our family, and we're truly humbled to be here today.

Let me start with a few thank-yous. First, President Guskiewicz, thank you for trusting me with this opportunity with this athletic department and for the ability to join your team. To the Board of Trustees, thank you for your trust. Certainly, Kelly Tebay, our chair, thank you for all your help throughout this process and your support. We couldn't do it without your leadership and support, and thank you for that.

And Coach (Izzo), thank you. Jen Smith, thank you as well. Not only for your work as interim AD, but as we got to know one another through this process, I think I truly understood what it meant to be a part of this family, and it's a huge part of what made it seem like home for Leah and me. So, thank you for that. Jen, I can't wait to work with you and continue to drive the excellence you've already established here each and every day.

These are all-in jobs, and I think as you get to know me, I'm an all-in person — each and every day, in all things. And you can't do that without a great family. I just want to take a minute and thank my wife, Leah. She is my incredibly better half. I'm beyond blessed to have you, darling. So thank you for the support. Boys, thank you for your sacrifices and your support. You look good in green. Thank you all very much. Thank you.

And you know, this is a journey. My journey began as a student-athlete at the University of North Carolina 25 years ago — it's hard to say — as a below-average soccer player, probably better suited to contribute to the GPA than the actual field. But I learned a lot during that time as a student-athlete. I learned what it meant to be a part of an elite team, part of what it meant to win at the highest level. But it cemented for me that college athletics is about opportunity. It's about opportunity.

I learned the impact a coach can have on the life of a student-athlete — just like a faculty member or university administrator can. And at the end of the day, I wanted to have impact on student-athletes. And so, no matter how college athletics shifts — good or bad — it's about opportunity. And as we head into this opportunity — this is truly an amazing opportunity. Between the excellence of this university, the tradition and history of our former alums and athletics programs, all of our alumni, donors and fans, student-athletes, and this incredible East Lansing community — this is truly a special place.

I've had the opportunity to meet with our coaches and staff earlier today, and I can promise you this is an incredible group, they're working their tails off each and every single day to help drive success for our student-athletes and for each other.

I've also had an opportunity to meet a few of our student-athletes. And while I haven't met all of them, you can be incredibly proud of the young people that are wearing the green and white.

I've also talked to Commissioner (Tony) Petitti and several of my athletic director colleagues this week. It is an incredibly awesome time to be a part of the Big Ten Conference. The Big Ten is leading the way, and I can't tell you how excited I am to join this league and this room together.

Opportunities often require good timing. It is an excellent time for Michigan State. As we head into the next era of intercollegiate athletics, this era will continue to be dynamic, require additional resources, and provide new challenges daily. But the key to that success is alignment. Under President Guskiewicz's leadership, the support of the board, and the entire Spartan family — we are well-positioned not to survive that change, but to take advantage of it, to take ground, to move forward, to make progress.

Now, we'll ask everyone in the family to pull in the same direction — to do their part. And it'll require more. More than we've ever done before. We'll pull harder, give deeper, work harder, run faster — but in the end, the success will ultimately be worth it.

The opportunities for success here will involve student-athletes graduating. They'll continue to succeed off the field and in competition, as we've said before. But it will include championships at the very highest levels across our athletic department.

It's imperative we support all our sports. But do not be confused — every athletics department competing at the highest level must be successful in football. Coach Izzo and I have already talked. Coach is the biggest supporter of our football program that there is. We will do everything we possibly can to help dive in and help Coach Smith and continue to drive excellence and support you and all you need, while continuing to provide championship-level resources for all our programs.

This is a top-10 athletic department in the country. Let me say that again: This is a top-10 athletic department in the country.

I look forward to applying hard work, energy, effort, creativity and the highest level of integrity each and every day to support our coaches and student-athletes as we strive for that level of success.

I have much to learn about Michigan State. I'm going to ask a lot of questions — all of you in this room and those I haven't met yet. I have a lot of listening to do. But we are going to dive into the traditions and the history that make this place so special. From 27 national championships, transcending athletes and iconic coaches — we have it all. This place is special.

Our family will be present at games, community events, campus events, and we look forward, most importantly, to building relationships with our fans, our supporters here today, but also those of you not here today as well.

I can't wait to get back to East Lansing in a few weeks and get to work. Again, my sincere thanks to you, President Guskiewicz and the Board, for your belief in me. And certainly not last: Go Green!

Gallery: (6-4-2025) J Batt Introductory Press Conference

Question and answer portion of the press conference:

Michigan State Vice President/Director of Athletics J Batt

On the privilege of this role…
It's an incredible privilege. This is an incredible place, certainly in no small part by our incredible coaches and student-athletes. So, to be here today and to join this Spartan Family, is an incredible privilege. I can't tell you how excited we are to get started.

On enhancing MSU's role within the Big Ten leadership…
Certainly, that starts on campus. We have work to do, we have incredible teams, incredible coaches, incredible student-athletes. (Big Ten) Commissioner (Tony) Petitti is an incredible leader. Truly blessed to have his leadership in the league, and so it involves us working hard on that each and every day.

On learning the story of MSU and how important that is in the NIL era…
It's incredibly important. My first job will be to listen and learn. I'll spend a lot of time asking questions and listening and learning. At the end of the day, college athletics is worth it, right? The endeavor that we have and that we take on is an opportunity, and so, it's changing at a rapid and dynamic pace. But that change provides opportunity, and it provides some things that are the same, and those things are worth it. So, we're going to continue to work hard to provide those opportunities to Michigan State, and to drive on those things that make Michigan State truly special.

On where the role of the AD is in this new era of collegiate athletics…
You know, that's a great question. I see them as continually incredibly important. If we talk about if opportunity is the key and currency to our business, those revenue sports help drive, but at the end of the day, those Olympic sports (non-revenue sports) are just as important. So, success across the board is an important goal, and this top 10 athletic department will be successful.

On what people told him about this place…
I'll tell you that as long as I've known Coach (Nick) Saban, he's been so positive about East Lansing, about our fan base here, and about this place. And so, immediately, when Chad (Chatlos) reached out, and I had a chance to think about it, it was immediate "yes" for me, because coach helped framed that for me. He's so positive about Michigan State and his time here it made for an easy discussion.

On how quickly things can change and on how much needs to change…
I'm sure that there's a bunch that we'll need to dive into. I'm not going to tell you exactly what that looks like until we get here. This is a dynamic environment. It'll require new different things brought to the table, and new resources. What it takes to be successful continues to change, but when we get here, we'll figure that out and spend more time with that.

On the priority of NIL…
We're going to be extremely successful and competitive in that space. We're going to be intentional about providing all of our coaches the resources to be successful at a championship level. I'll tell you, I believe as we head into the revenue share of the post house settlement (hopefully), what that requires will change, and how we approach that space will change. But I can tell we'll have a great plan. We'll be united in that plan. We'll be aligned in that plan from President Guskiewicz to our coaches, and to our board as we head into that era.

On the importance of success with the football program…
I had the chance to catch up with Coach (Jonathan) Smith this week, and again today. Certainly, we haven't dove into where everything is going to be, but at the end of the day it comes down to resources. And then across the board, we will work very, very hard each and every day to provide him and his staff the resources that they need to be successful.

On what he looks for when hiring people…
I think there's certainly some things, you start with the integrity. Integrity is key at the highest of level. And then we want an athletic department full of competitors. This is a place in which we're judged on winning, but doing it the right way. So those people that fit and make that mold. And then the fit is truly important, so zooming out – fit for your place, your program, that timing, all important.

On goals of being aligned as a department…
I would tell you that alignment institutionally with our coaches, fans, top to bottom is the most important thing as you approach change. Regardless of the industry, change is an opportunity, and alignment is the biggest strength I believe we have here at Michigan State. The leadership of our president, in concert with our board and the incredible passion of our donor base – that alignment is truly powerful. Our coaches, our student-athletes, it's all pointing – that rocket fueling up.

Michigan State University President Kevin M. Guskiewicz

On what he was looking for in a college athletic director and what stood out about J Batt…
I wanted a thought leader. I wanted somebody who was respected at the highest level in the industry. Jim Phillips (ACC Commissioner) is a good friend of mine as well, as Coach Izzo said. That call to him was a little difficult because I was potentially pulling away one of the top ADs in the ACC, which is where I came from and admire so many people there. But I wanted a thought leader, I wanted somebody who I knew, because I have seen J work at that level when I was Chancellor at UNC Chapel Hill, and we would get together at meetings there. He is the type of guy who rolls his sleeves up; he's at the table, and he's invested and not sitting back. He's a thought leader nationally, somebody who can get creative around the new revenue streams, which is so critically important, somebody who is outward facing and engaging. I mean, I have heard from so many people in the room here in the past couple of days that he's already called and texted with many of you. That's who he is. You will get to know J Batt, and that will take us to the next level. On top of that, he was a better soccer player than he's going to let you to believe.

On the importance of hiring someone with proper experience…
You are seeing athletic directors around the country, some being hired from institutions or where they're bringing somebody out of corporate America or somebody who's been working with the major leagues, perhaps – not a traditional athletic director – but they understand the corporate side, business side of the operation. And there's some risk, but I think you are going to see more of that. With J (Batt) we got somebody who spent most of his last, probably 15 years, doing that. But yet he's played the game. An outstanding Division I athlete. One of the things that is important to me is that he develops relationships with coaches, and I know he can do that. He's walked the sidelines, been on the sidelines as an athlete himself, but also spending time with coaches – and some really good coaches. He understands the business side, the corporate side of this. So, I think we got the best of both.

On any specific thing that stood out that made J the guy…
Well, just the fact that he took my call and I was told he wouldn't. That was a good start. We reminisced a little bit going back 25 years ago, but realize we really haven't worked close together over that time. But just confirming some of the things I thought about J (Batt), some of the questions about how you build a leadership team, how you evaluate people, how you set expectations. I'm a big believer in setting expectations and that was a big part of what we heard in developing a leadership profile. I want to thank a number of folks in the room, including a number of our trustees, who helped build that profile. Setting the expectation is something he's done really well, getting people to align with a strategic roadmap and plan. One of the things he said with strategic roadmaps – it's easy to say we are going to have a plan for the next 10 years. But the way the landscape of intercollegiate athletics is changing, he said we need to think about what our plan looks like for the next 18 months and let's build it out that way. We'll get to the longer-range plan, but that's what we are going to do. And we are both strategic thinkers, strategic leaders, and I think you are going to love him.

Vice President/Director of Athletics J Batt Introductory Press Conference Coverage

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