Report: Michigan State to hire Georgia Tech interim AD Jon Palumbo as Deputy Athletics Director

Michigan State is reportedly set to hire Georgia Tech interim AD Jon Palumbo to their Executive Deputy Athletics Director role. The university recently hired J Batt as its new athletic director, taking him away from Georgia Tech as well.

“Sources: Michigan State is set to hire Georgia Tech interim AD Jon Palumbo as the the school’s new Executive Deputy Athletics Director/COO,” Thamel wrote on Twitter. “He’s been the AD at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and a deputy AD at VCU prior to Georgia Tech. At Tech, he worked with current Michigan State AD J Batt in the same role he’s heading to.”

Palumbo will work with Batt once again. He comes to East Lansing with plenty of experience, as his GT bio describes.

“Palumbo’s influence is visible across nearly every area of Georgia Tech Athletics,” Palumbo’s bio reads. “He currently serves as the day-to-day administrator and liaison for the football program, which recently earned back-to-back bowl appearances for the first time in a decade. He has also led planning and execution for major capital projects, including the Thomas A. Fanning Student-Athlete Performance Center — a 100,000-square-foot facility under construction that will house leading-edge resources in training, nutrition, sports medicine, sports science, and analytics for more than 400 Yellow Jacket student-athletes.

“In addition, Palumbo has overseen event operations and fan engagement strategies, including the successful launch of the Helluva Block Party, which has quickly become a signature gameday tradition along North Avenue in Atlanta. He has also played a critical role in strategic coaching hires, including Brent Key as head football coach, Damon Stoudamire as head men’s basketball coach, and Karen Blair as head women’s basketball coach.”

Jon Palumbo to join J Batt at Michigan State in AD office

Batt was named the AD at Georgia Tech in 2022 after serving as the Deputy Athletic Director at Alabama from 2017-22. He was also the associate AD at East Carolina from 2013-17.

As Thamel pointed out, Batt was hired by Michigan State to modernize the athletic department. In an NIL world, the Spartans are seemingly behind the eight-ball but can quickly catch up with Batt at the helm.

He was key to raising funds at Georgia Tech and managed to make solid hires in football (Brent Key) and basketball (Damon Stoudamire). He and Palumbo worked in tandem there.

MSU deputy athletic director and senior women’s administrator/compliance Jen Smith and MSU men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo served as the school’s interim athletic directors before Batt. Now, he’s making his mark at the school ahead of the new school year.