Report: Mark Hollis will be named MSU’s next AD
The writing has been on the wall for a long time but MSU has probably already found its next athletic director.
With novel ideas like a world-record setting basketball game at Ford Field, to playing a hockey game in Spartan Stadium, Mark Hollis has been one of the most innovative thinkers inside Michigan State’s athletic department. He’s also been in the public eye lately, much more so than in the past. Last fall he toured tailgates (including ours) with MSU head coach Tom Izzo. Shortly after that he was an integral part of MSU’s football coaching search which led to the hiring of Mark Dantonio. In June, he was a very public representative of Michigan State at the PGA’s Buick Open pro-am in Grand Blanc.
Now Hondo Carpenter of WLAJ ABC 53 is reporting that Hollis will be named the new AD when Ron Mason retires next summer. If true, it’s hard to find any fault in the choice.
One of the people who is part of the decision process in Hollis getting the job told me that day, “It was pretty obvious, don’t you agree?” I did, but if he is your guy, then why not. Hollis isn’t getting the job, however, because he has been loyal, he is getting it because an overwhelming (or what they call in D.C. a supermajority) is solidly behind his candidacy and when the vote finally comes, it will get the nod from all eight of the trustees.
How did it all transpire? Well, last year when Ron Mason got the unique one year extension of his contract, it was with Hollis already having the majority of votes on the Board of Trustees, but there were some in leadership that wanted MSU to take the time to evaluate him closely, and he has essentially been running the department since then.