Tom Izzo blasts leadership shakeup after Michigan State president, athletic director depart
Longtime Michigan State University basketball coach Tom Izzo did not shy away from speaking out after the university's president and athletic director departed within a month of each other, calling the leadership shakeup "self-inflicted."
On May 27, 2026, President Kevin Guskiewicz announced that he would be leaving to become the next president of Clemson University. More than two weeks later, on June 15, athletic director J Batt announced he was leaving to become the new director at the University of Kentucky.
Within hours of Batt's departure, Izzo spoke with reporters, saying, "I've had it."
"We just lost the best president, I mean, to ever have been here ... one of the best," Izzo said. "There's other dominoes it affected when things go wrong like that. I'm very upset about it, and I'm sick of it."
Batt was hired by MSU in June 2025 and replaced Alan Haller, who announced earlier that spring that he was leaving the university. During his time, Batt helped secure a $400 million commitment, the largest single gift in university history. Nearly $300 million of the funding was used FOR SPARTA, an MSU athletics campaign.
Guskiewicz, who was named MSU's president in December 2023, served as MSU's 22nd overall president and the fifth person to lead the university since Lou Anna K. Simon resigned in 2018 in the wake of the Larry Nassar sexual assault scandal. Including interim President Teresa Woodruff, the next president will be the third person to lead the university since 2022.
The Board of Trustees was negotiating a new contract for Guskiewicz with a $2 million base salary, a week before he announced his departure. At the time, MSU Trustee Sandy Pierce said Guskiewicz did not ask for "any changes in his compensation" or an extension of his contract, but they were working to retain him because he was being pursued by other universities.
Board Chair Brianna Scott said she believed there would be a "domino effect" if Guskiewicz left the school.
Meanwhile, Izzo said he would share more of his thoughts at a later time, but called on all MSU alumni to "stand up." Since joining MSU in 1995, he has worked with nearly a dozen presidents (including acting and interim), athletic directors and football coaches.
"I think 600,000 living alums better start rallying together," Izzo said. "If there's ever a time that we need to rally together, it's now."
He added, "I don't just care about basketball. I don't just care about athletics. I care about Michigan University, and that's what we're supposed to do, I thought. That's been challenged a little bit."
In a May 27 letter to the MSU community, Guskiewicz pointed to "differing perspectives within the Board of Trustees regarding how best to move MSU forward." While he didn't name specific trustees, he said "meaningful progress" was hindered by disagreements and personal interests that were put above the university's best interests.
"What is perhaps most troubling is the actions of some to abuse their access to privileged and confidential information to mispresent facts, manipulate situations and selectively use and leak that information to promote personal agendas," Guskiewicz said in the letter. "Despite this discouraging behavior by a few trustees, I am appreciative of the five trustees who recently voted to strengthen their code of ethics and conduct in alignment with what our national governance advisors have said are best practices for university boards."
Most recently, Trustees Rema Vassar and Mike Balow were censured after voting against a revised code of ethics. The new code of conduct, which received a 5-3 vote, bars trustees from dissenting publicly against decisions made by the majority of the board.
The formal censure means Vassar and Balow won't have access to tickets to games, university-funded legal representation or reimbursements. In a statement to CBS News Detroit, Michigan State University said, in part, that the revisions "... in no way limit free speech or restrict trustees from raising concerns, providing oversight or questioning decisions."
