DotComp: How things went wrong for Alan Haller, and what’s next for Michigan State 

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Alan Haller met with some of his remaining allies earlier this week and fought back tears while thanking them for the support they had offered. Haller knew his time as athletic director was coming to an end, and in so many words delivered that message to some of his chief supporters. Some of them were shocked. When a dream job at a beloved school deteriorates into a nightmare of closing doors, even an NFL-tough former cop can get misty.  And it was fogginess around NCAA rules which had a hand in Haller’s ouster as athletic director at Michigan State on Thursday. He didn’t break rules. The fact that he was so careful not to bend them eventually had a hand in his undoing. Ten years earlier, Haller could have become a terrific all-around athletic director. But in this age of changing rules, and changing interpretations of rules, and changing respect for rules, Haller was careful to take steps forward. And his athletic department was left behind.  Name, image and likeness fund raising became a vital cog of intercollegiate sports soon after Haller was hired as athletic director in 2021. With it, NIL collectives became necessary in building and maintaining athletic rosters.  I had a few conversations with Haller about Michigan State’s strategy in the NIL space in the past three years. In his meek respectful tone, Haller would remind me that, according to NCAA rules, university athletic departments weren’t allowed to have any direct involvement with third party collectives. He wasn’t saying these things to satisfy the skepticism of a nosy reporter. Haller is a former law enforcement officer with deep love for Michigan State and a deeper desire to be a proper steward for the university. He wasn’t going to be involved in any rule-bending on the NIL front, and run the risk of getting his university in trouble, on his watch, and losing this dream job. (MORE INSIDE SpartanMag.com)