EAST LANSING, Mich. --- Michigan State's new athletic director formally introduced himself to Spartan fans on Wednesday evening, and he didn't mince words.MSU announced back on Monday that it would be hiring Western Michigan athletic director Dan Bartholomae to the same post in East Lansing. Bartholomae officially starts his new gig on August 31. Here are a few notes from his introductory press conference:Transparency in 'Vision'Michigan State athletic director Dan Bartholomae speaks off-podium following his introductory presser at the Breslin Center on Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026. | Jacob Cotsonika, Michigan State Spartans on SIBartholomae's level of transparency while he spoke was pretty admirable. Big, optimistic promises are pretty commonplace at these sort of intro pressers, and Bartholomae's wasn't any different in that way. The phrase "national championship" really is getting tossed around a bunch at Michigan State, though, whether that's Bartholomae or new head football coach Pat Fitzgerald.Dan Bartholomae, the new Michigan State University Director of Athletics and Vice President speaks during a special press conference in front of the Spartan Community, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect"I'm competitive," Bartholomae said during the formal, televised portion of his intro presser. "We will compete and we will win at the highest levels, and when you compete in the Big Ten Conference, that means national championships. I walked into the administrative building yesterday; I walked by that wall of national championships at the entrance to our offices on the way to this press conference, and I thought to myself, 'Folks, it has been too long.' We will play to win."It's one thing to envision winning a national championship and actually doing it, but alignment on the overall goals for this department won't be an issue. Fitzgerald hasn't been shy about that being the ultimate goal for his football program, and Tom Izzo and Adam Nightingale are both coaches who have built teams who could potentially go the distance this coming season.Michigan State's Tom Izzo shouts instructions out during a game against Michigan at the Breslin Center on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. | Starr Portice, Michigan State Spartans on SIBartholomae had the same vision when he got the AD job at Western Michigan, a place where national titles probably feel like a total pipe dream. The hockey program wound up being the last team standing in 2025, the first title in any sport for the Broncos in 60 years."I think talking that way was welcomed [at WMU]," he said. "What's exciting about this place is that I'm not the only one walking around talking that way. It's my job to activate that and draw a plan together and figure out a way to get it done. "Past ConnectionsNew Michigan State athletic director Dan Bartholomae speaks during his introductory press conference at the Breslin Center on Wed., Aug. 19, 2026. | Jacob Cotsonika, Michigan State Spartans on SIThe people with big voices around Michigan State aren't strangers to Bartholomae, either. He's had past run-ins or connections with Kevin Guskiewicz, Fitzgerald, and Izzo that pre-date the hiring process of him to MSU.Bartholomae first met Guskiewicz two years ago. This was when the Spartans' women's soccer team was taking on Western Michigan in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in East Lansing. Both of them have a lot in common, largely their Pittsburgh roots and fandom of the Steelers.MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz, right, poses for a pic with Dan Bartholomae, the new Michigan State University Director of Athletics and Vice President speaks during a special press conference in front of the Spartan Community, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters ConnectFitzgerald and Bartholomae had perhaps the most unlikely run-in. Northwestern and Pitt were actually matched up in the 2016 Pinstripe Bowl. Fitzgerald was the NU head coach, and Bartholomae was actually serving as the acting AD for Pitt at the time. The two of them got to know each other a little bit in the events surrounding the bowl game."Pat Fitzgerald and his family were so warm and so welcoming in those moments. I mean, he was already built for it, right? I was just figuring it all out. That had always left an impression on me. In fact, I have a picture of him and I ringing the New York Stock Exchange bell."Michigan State head coach Pat Fitzgerald calls out to players during football practice on Monday, Aug. 17, 2026, in East Lansing. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters ConnectIzzo just straight-up called him shortly after Bartholomae got the athletic director job at Western Michigan back in 2022. "I was sitting in my office, and I get a random call from a 517 number, and I thought, 'Well, maybe I'll pick this up,'" Bartholomae recalled. "It was Coach [Izzo], calling simply to get to know me and to offer his advice and support to a new professional in the state who he saw had big dreams and big aspirations."Used to Unusual CircumstancesSparty directs the Michigan State band during a time out in the second half of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball East Regional game against UConn at Capital One Arena in Washington DC on Friday, March 27, 2026.