Michigan State has been sucker-punched by a horrendous board of trustees that has essentially hijacked the university and has sucked all the life out of it.
The board has run off Kevin Guskiewicz who accused a few members of acting in their own self interests and going against what was best for Michigan State. He said that the board’s motivations really drove him to take the Clemson job even though he loves the school in East Lansing.
On Monday, J Batt was officially named the new athletic director at Kentucky, a move likely stemming from the departure of Guskiewicz.
The loss of Batt meant that Michigan State would be looking for its fourth athletic director since Mark Hollis retired suddenly back in 2018 when the university came under fire for Larry Nassar — and deservedly so. Bill Beekman took over and then Alan Haller replaced him before Batt looked like he might be the long-term solution.
Unfortunately, that hope was short-lived.
Now Michigan State is looking for another fix to an ugly situation, but a familiar face is apparently willing to shoulder the pressure and get Michigan State out of the mud.
Hollis reportedly told the Associated Press that he’d be interested in a return to Michigan State.
Mark Hollis would be a lot of Michigan State fans’ perfect choice
A lot of Michigan State fans have always wanted Hollis to return because he was responsible for so many good things that happened to the athletic department from 2008-2018.
The football program experienced a renaissance, the basketball program experienced multiple Final Fours, and Michigan State was involved with several cool events like playing on an aircraft carrier and creating the Champions Classic. Hollis was a pioneer as Michigan State’s athletic director, but his departure left a sour taste in a lot of fans’ mouths, too.
He kind of left Mark Dantonio and Tom Izzo out to dry after they were wrongfully included in a graphic with Nassar on ESPN’s Outside the Lines. That didn’t sit well with me.
Hollis stepped down during the Nassar scandal even though he claimed that he had never met the monster of a gymnastics doctor and he had no knowledge of the Title IX investigation that cleared him back in 2014. He claimed he first heard about Nassar’s allegations in September of 2016.
Obviously Hollis comes with some baggage and his claims about Nassar are concerning regardless of the situation. He does, however, know Michigan State like the back of his hand and wants to help in any way he can.
Sometimes to move forward, you have to go back.
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