Jon Palumbo Named Interim Athletic Director of Michigan State University

Effective immediately, Jon Palumbo is now the Interim Athletic Director for Michigan State University. He had held the title of Executive Deputy Athletic Director since he came to MSU from Georgia Tech along with outgoing AD J Batt, and he is also the CEO of the recently-launched Spartan Ventures. In related news, it was announced yesterday that J Batt would officially begin his tenure as Kentucky’s AD on July 28, but with the news of Palumbo becoming the interim AD, we can assume that Batt no longer has any affiliation with our school.

The major point of this breaking news it the inclusion of the word “interim”. While Palumbo will have all the functionality of a full-time AD, it should be assumed that Kevin Guskiewicz, he who is no longer a lame-duck president, is reserving the right to continue the search for a permanent candidate. Now the question becomes how much of a “tryout” is this for Palumbo, if at all. How long will the MSU administration be willing to wait and see if Palumbo is capable of being the head guy in the athletic department? Or have they communicated with him that this will only be temporary (perhaps they want him focused on Spartan Ventures?) while they seek a permanent AD.

What do you think, TOC Nation? How should Guskiewicz handle this situation?