It’s been less than 24 hours since J Batt was introduced as Kentucky’s new athletic director, leaving Michigan State after just one calendar year.
The departure didn’t come as a huge surprise for those in the know who claimed that they knew Batt wasn’t likely to stick around long-term, but he proved that his ultimate goal was to head back to the SEC by jumping at the Kentucky opening.
Batt did apply to other athletic director positions around the country — and even in the Big Ten — but I do believe the ultimate goal was to end up back down south.
He got his wish and accepted the Kentucky job.
During his intro presser, he took a bit of a sneaking parting shot at Michigan State, stating that his kids are going to graduate high school in Lexington and that he’s not going anywhere because Kentucky is a destination job. That leaves a lot of us who heard him say that Michigan State should be a top-10 athletic department confused.
Finally, I asked UK AD J Batt about his many moves on his resume and whether he is here to stay…referring to his young kids he said:
— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) June 15, 2026
“This is where our boys will graduate high school. I am here to stay. This is a destination job”
Not only did he take a sneaky little parting shot by insinuating that Michigan State is not a destination school for athletic directors, but Batt also made a comment about the president, the AD, and the board of trustees needing to be on the same page. He claimed that Kentucky had all that working in its favor.
Essentially, this is an admission that the board of trustees at Michigan State was one of the reasons that he didn’t stick around for longer than a year.
Taking a shot at Michigan State by insinuating that it’s not a destination job despite touting it as a top-10 athletic department literally one year ago is a choice. Those two things don’t quite make sense together unless he only thinks Michigan State isn’t a destination job currently due to the state of the university’s board of trustees and lack of a president.
Either way, this isn’t going to make a lot of Spartan fans very happy to hear.
Michigan State is a destination job
The argument against this is probably something like “if you have to say it’s a destination, then it’s not a destination” and that’s fair, but when someone takes a shot at Michigan State like Batt probably unknowingly did, defending it makes sense.
From top to bottom, there’s no reasons Michigan State shouldn’t have one of the best athletic departments in the country.
The university has several billionaire donors, Tom Izzo is one of the best coaches of all time, Pat Fitzgerald is an experienced Big Ten coach ready to revive the football program, the hockey program under Adam Nightingale is one of the nation’s best, and the women’s basketball, women’s soccer, and men’s tennis programs are all on the rise.
Any athletic director looking to move up would jump at the idea of being Michigan State’s next under normal circumastances. Unfortunately, until the board of trustees is fixed, Batt has a point.
With a normal board of trustees, Michigan State is absolutely a destination job for ADs.
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