J Batt speaks Wednesday, June 4, 2025, after being introduced as Michigan State University's new athletic director. Matthew Dae Smith/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Is MSU the Elite Program J Batt Believes It Is?

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Greg Liodice | Last updated Jun 8, 2025 11:30 AM ET

You might as well call him J Bar, because Michigan State's new athletic director raised it sky high.

With nearly 15 years of experience as a college athletic administrator, J Batt comes in with a wealth of knowledge.

For five years in Tuscaloosa, Batt saw what greatness looked like up close. As the deputy athletic director at the University of Alabama, he worked alongside Greg Byrne and watched a master of his craft in Nick Saban dominate the college football world.

Not only that, but he also helped bring Nate Oats on board as Alabama’s head basketball coach, the same coach who led the Crimson Tide to their first Final Four appearance in school history.

Then, as Georgia Tech’s AD, Batt learned what it took to build a program from the ground up, especially in the modern NIL era. He helped raise a record-setting $78 million, a number Michigan State will likely need to match if it wants to be the juggernaut Batt envisions.

Batt accomplished more in three years in Atlanta than many expected. The football program had struggled for years, but the Yellow Jackets earned back-to-back bowl game appearances for the first time since 2013–14.

Right from the jump in his introductory press conference, Batt made it clear that he won’t slow down for anyone:

“These are all-in jobs, and as you get to know me, I’m an all-in person,” he said.

The one part of the job he emphasized most was building the football program into one of the best in the country.

"[D]o not be confused -- every athletics department competing at the highest level must be successful in football," Batt said.

But things really got interesting when Batt doubled down on his belief in what Michigan State has already built.

“This is a top-10 athletic department in the country. I’ll say it again: This is a top-10 athletic department in the country.”

Can that statement really be true if the football program -- which he just explained is essential -- has gone 41-41 since 2017?

Sure, the basketball program is already elite, and hockey is becoming one of the sport’s most dominant forces. But the football team is clearly in transition, and Rome wasn’t built in a day.

It’s a cautiously optimistic outlook for Jonathan Smith’s squad, which had to recreate the identity of Michigan State football in the post-Mel Tucker era. Now, with the return of Aidan Chiles and another year of development under his belt, the hope for greatness inches closer.

Perhaps Batt knows that, and that’s why his message was loud and clear. This is a program with the structure -- now it needs the results.

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This article first appeared on Michigan State Spartans on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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