While most programs are busy with heavy recruiting during this period, Michigan State is suffering major blows. After recently losing its president to Clemson University, the athletic director is also on his way out. A major cause is the age-old bond between the pair, which found its way into the contract.

Per The Athletic’s Chris Vannini, Michigan State is on the verge of losing athletic director J. Batt just weeks after their president, Kevin Guskiewicz, left for Clemson University. Batt has been a candidate for the Kentucky Wildcats and is now the leading choice for the athletic director role.

Batt was hired by Guskiewicz last June from Georgia Tech in a six-year deal worth up to $12.6 million. The hire was motivated by the relationship between the pair at the University of North Carolina. While Guskiewicz conducted concussion research with the program’s championship-winning soccer team, Batt was the team’s goalkeeper. At Georgia Tech, Batt was the vice president and director of athletics.

Once the news of Guskiewicz’s exit broke, talks began about a clause in Batt’s contract that states that his buyout clause will be halved in the case where Guskiewicz leaves the school. This reduces the cost of his hire to $2.5 million, down from the previous $5 million, making a possible departure less problematic. The Kentucky Wildcats are taking advantage of this situation and are pursuing the 44-year-old to replace longtime AD Mitch Barnhart, who retired in March.

Guskiewicz, despite his desire to modernize the school and improve research, had to battle the program’s board of trustees, who disagreed with many of his ideas. Per the Detroit News, it had gotten so deep that he was beginning to battle health challenges due to the strained relationship between him and the board. All of these led him to reject a $2 million pay increase at Michigan State and to settle for a lower salary at Clemson University.

Batt was similarly a man of impact. Known for his fundraising efforts at Georgia Tech, he set an all-time record of $78.2 million in athletics donations. At MSU, he spearheaded the launch of multiple major fundraising initiatives in his first year in East Lansing, including the For Sparta capital campaign and the formation of Spartan Ventures. Furthermore, with him in charge, the program had a successful leadership transition from Jonathan Smith to Pat Fitzgerald.

Now, the Kentucky Wildcats are making an effort to bring him back to the SEC, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Before his stint at Georgia Tech, he was the deputy athletic director at Alabama and the associate athletic director at East Carolina, among his other previous roles.

Guskiewicz breaks the silence on his exit

Guskiewicz had an explanation for his decision to take a pay cut as he left Michigan State. After his exit, he released a letter detailing the challenges in East Lansing that led to his departure, even when the financial situation was less favorable.

“While I firmly believe we are all better when there is a diversity of viewpoints informing decisions, our ability to make meaningful progress is hampered when disagreements move from offering alternative perspectives into publicly undermining decisions and putting personal interests above the best interests of the university and our faculty, staff, and students,” said Guskiewicz, in a letter he released after his exit.

He further criticized the actions of some board members who “abuse their access to privileged and confidential information to misrepresent facts, manipulate situations, and selectively use and leak that information to promote personal agendas.” By having a dysfunctional board, MSU lost its president, and with his exit came a more seamless path for the departure of the athletic director.