Michigan State will pay its new athletic director more than double what it shelled out to his predecessor.
J Batt, who was hired away from Georgia Tech earlier this month, signed a six-year contract that will pay him $1.85 million in base salary the first year. Annual $100,000 raises push the total to $2.35 million in its final year for a total of $12.6 million.
The contract was formally approved by Michigan State’s Board of Trustees during a meeting on Friday in Traverse City and released by the university. It calls for Batt and president Kevin Guskiewicz to meet on or before June 2028 to discuss his compensation and a possible extension.
Michigan State is paying a little more than the $2 million Batt owed Georgia Tech as a buyout and the contract calls for him to meet annually with Guskiewicz to review a possible “performance bonus” based on department achievements.
If Michigan State fires Batt without cause, it will owe him 75 percent of the base salary left on the contract. If Batt leaves for another job, his buyout is $5 million the first two years before dropping by $1 million annually and hitting zero in its final year.
Batt replaces Alan Haller, who Guskiewicz fired in May with more than a year left on his contract, and his first official day on the job is Tuesday. Haller spent less than four years as the AD and made about $900,000 annually.
Approval from the board was a formality after its members allowed Guskiewicz to run the search for a new AD and signed off before Batt was introduced during a press conference on June 3 in East Lansing. Basketball coach Tom Izzo and deputy AD Jennifer Smith served as co-interim ADs.
