Mark Hollis Position: Athletics Director

From the Desk of Mark Hollis Blog

"We gather and engage our community to teach, support and celebrate our student-athletes in their quest for excellence."

This is the vision Mark Hollis has for the Michigan State Athletics Department. A Michigan State graduate and veteran Spartan athletics administrator, Hollis assumed the role of MSU's 18th athletics director on Jan. 1, 2008, succeeding Ron Mason. Hollis was named athletics director-designate on Sept. 12, 2007, and teamed with Mason in the transition throughout the fall of 2007.

Hollis has more than 20 years of athletics administration experience, either at the school or conference level. His well-rounded background has led to his knowledge of all areas within an athletics department, including marketing, financial administration, television negotiations, fund-raising, game operations, facility management, personnel policy, corporate interaction, sports management and public relations.

In addition, Hollis was recently elected Chairperson of the NCAA Division I Amateurism Cabinet. Hollis is just the second chair of the Amateurism Cabinet, as he replaces Mike Rogers (Faculty Rep., Baylor), who had served as chair since the inception of the cabinet in 2008. A member of the amateurism cabinet since 2008, Hollis also will continue to serve the NCAA on the Men's Basketball Issues Committee, a committee on which he's served since 2010.

Hollis, a 1985 MSU graduate, returned to his alma mater in 1995. Since then, he has been a critical component of the athletic department executive management staff, helping guide the department through short- and long-range plans.

On the playing field in 2010-11, Michigan State had a record-setting year, winning five Big Ten Championships - the most in department history. The football team won a school-record 11 games and claimed the program's seventh Big Ten Championship en route to participating in the 2011 Capital One Bowl, which marked MSU's fourth straight bowl appearance and second in the last three seasons on New Year's Day. The baseball team won its first Big Ten title since 1979, while the women's cross country, women's basketball and women's golf teams also won conference championships. Overall, 12 sports participated in their respective team NCAA Championships, while individuals competed in four more NCAA Championships.

In three-plus years with Hollis serving as the Athletics Director, Michigan State has proved to be of the most successful athletic departments in the country, as the Spartans have already won 12 Big Ten Championships in addition to appearing in three bowl games and two Final Fours during his tenure.

In 2009-10, MSU finished 39th in the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings, marking the 11th time in the past 12 years the department has placed in the top 40. Highlights included the men's basketball team advancing to the Final Four for the sixth time in the last 12 years and winning its second straight Big Ten regular-season title, field hockey capturing both the Big Ten regular-season and tournament championships, and the football team appearing in its third-straight bowl game.

One of Hollis' major goals upon becoming athletics director was accomplished in 2010 when he unveiled the new brand and identity program for the athletics department. All of Michigan State's uniforms now incorporate consistent use of colors, logos, lettering and numerals along with standardization for logos. Throughout the project, equal attention was devoted to maintaining an appreciation for the traditions of the past, while positioning the athletics program for the future. The brand and identity program for Michigan State Athletics was a result of nearly a two-year collaborative effort between the athletics department and Nike that included input from university and athletic administration, coaches and student-athletes.

During Hollis' tenure, Michigan State student-athletes have excelled not only in competition, but in the classroom as well. In the spring of 2011, the athletic department posted the highest GPA in program history with a 3.0272; it marked the third time in the past four years the department has achieved a record GPA. The department also set another benchmark as 14 teams achieved a 3.0 or higher term GPA during the spring semester. Additionally, 238 student-athletes earned Academic All-Big Ten honors throughout the academic year.

In Hollis' first full season as athletics director in 2008-09, Michigan State enjoyed one of its most successful years of the decade with a 27th-place finish in the Directors' Cup, the best showing for the department since 2003 and the third highest in the department's history. Ten teams earned bids to their respective NCAA Championships, led by the men's basketball team, which reached the national title game against North Carolina while also winning the Big Ten regular-season championship. In addition, the football team won nine games for the first time since 1999 and played on New Year's Day in the 2009 Capital One Bowl, the men's soccer team won the Big Ten regular-season and tournament championships, and the crew team won its second-straight Big Ten title. Individually, wrestler Franklin Gomez claimed the 133-pound national title.

During the spring semester of Hollis' first year as athletics director in 2008, the men's golf and women's rowing teams claimed Big Ten Championships and the men's basketball program reached the Sweet 16 for the seventh time in 11 years. This success propelled Michigan State to 29th in the Directors' Cup standings.

Prior to his official appointment as athletics director, Hollis played a lead role in two significant head coaching searches during the 2006-07 year. He spearheaded the effort to hire Mark Dantonio as football coach, which has resulted in four consecutive bowl appearances for the program and a Big Ten Championship in 2010. He also provided major assistance in the hiring of women's basketball coach Suzy Merchant in the spring of 2007, who led the Spartans to the Sweet 16 in 2009. Hollis' first hire as athletics director arrived on July 2, 2008, when he tabbed Jake Boss Jr. to direct the Spartan baseball program; in just three seasons, Boss won a Big Ten title in 2011, the first for the program in 32 years.

Spartan athletic facilities have been upgraded at an unprecedented rate the past decade, and will only continue to improve under Hollis.

In August 2008, the Spartans moved into one of the nation's finest football facilities, as a $15 million expansion and renovation project for the Duffy Daugherty Football Building was completed. MSU alumni Robert and Julie Skandalaris of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., donated $5 million as the lead gift for the facility expansion and upgrade. The Skandalaris Football Center includes new team, staff and position meeting rooms, coaches' offices and a hall of history. In addition, an expanded weight room was finished in September 2008 that increased the facility in size from 9,000 to 16,500-square feet.

Also in 2008, the men's and women's soccer programs opened DeMartin Stadium, a state-of-the-art 2,500-seat facility that enables MSU to host conference and national tournaments. In the spring of 2009, the baseball program played its inaugural season in McLane Baseball Stadium following a $4 million donation to the 2,500-seat ballpark by former Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane Jr. This past year, with the help of a $1 million gift by alumnus Ambassador Peter F. Secchia - the largest cash (outright) gift received by an MSU women's intercollegiate sports program - Secchia Stadium opened for the softball program in the spring of 2011, a 1,100-seat facility located at Old College Field.

As a senior associate athletics director, Hollis oversaw all external relations for the MSU athletics department. Included in this group are marketing and promotions, community relations, special event fund-raising, sports information, ticket operations, spirit groups, broadcast services and corporate sponsorships. He also had sports management supervision of the men's basketball program, while also supervising the cheerleading, dance team and band programs.

Hollis has been recognized by his peers as one of the best in the business. In 2002, he was named recipient of the National Marketer of the Year Award as selected by the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators (NACMA). Under his direction, Michigan State has enjoyed increases in ticket revenues, including 10 years of sold-out football seasons and more than 200 consecutive sellouts in men's basketball. He was successful in negotiating a $2 million donation to the university for the construction of the Berkowitz Basketball Complex, providing both the men's and women's basketball programs with one the nation's top office complexes.

One of Hollis' greatest strengths is his ability to "dream big" in an effort to create greater exposure, not just for the Michigan State Athletics Department but for Michigan State University as a whole. He conceptualized "The BasketBowl," establishing a then-world record attendance of 78,129 for a basketball game between Michigan State and Kentucky at Detroit's Ford Field; MSU earned net revenues of $1 million from the event. The concept of placing the court in the middle of the field in a domed stadium has been used by the NCAA at the past three Final Fours. Similarly, he executed the "Cold War" ice hockey game between Michigan State and Michigan, drawing a then-world record crowd of 74,554 to an outdoor hockey game in Spartan Stadium.

Another one of Hollis' ideas will come to fruition on Nov. 11, 2011 - Veteran's Day - when the Michigan State men's basketball team takes on North Carolina in the "Carrier Classic" in San Diego. Hollis has been instrumental in the planning and implementation of the event, which will be the first NCAA basketball game to be played aboard an aircraft carrier.

On Oct. 13, 2005, Michigan State University and WJR - 760 AM announced a five-year agreement to carry Spartan football and men's basketball games, along with coaches' radio shows. The successful partnership led to the announcement on Jan. 19, 2010, of a 10-year extension through 2020. Hollis played a leading role in finding MSU athletics a home on the 50,000-watt Detroit radio station, known as the "Great Voice of the Great Lakes." The agreement has benefited more than just athletics as WJR regularly promotes the academic accomplishments of the university in addition to broadcasting sporting events.

In this era of college athletics, Hollis also excels in his relations with corporate partners. During his time guiding the office, the athletic department's annual sponsorship revenue billing increased from $350,000 to nearly $3 million. He developed an innovative sponsorship relationship with Nike for footwear, apparel and licensing resulting in cash payments to the university and product for all athletic programs.

Hollis also understands the importance of television broadcasts and other multi-media outlets for promoting the athletic department and the University. Through a combination of innovative strategies and personal relationships with ESPN, ABC and CBS television, he has increased Michigan State's television exposure by 60 percent for football and men's basketball. His background in the field allows Hollis to better understand how to use the emerging Big Ten Network to provide national television exposure for each one of MSU's varsity sports, and how to combine athletics with the academic mission of the university. Understanding the importance of the Internet in today's world, he negotiated an Internet agreement that has MSU ranked consistently in the national top 20 with more than 1.8 million page views monthly.

Prior to returning to Michigan State, Hollis spent two years at the University of Pittsburgh as assistant and associate athletic director. Before his stint at Pitt, Hollis worked for the Western Athletic Conference. He joined the WAC as an administrative assistant immediately after college. Two years later, he was appointed assistant to the commissioner and soon thereafter was promoted to assistant commissioner.

Hollis earned his bachelor of arts degree in communication from Michigan State in 1985, where he served as a basketball team manager under Jud Heathcote. In 1992, he earned his MBA in business administration from the University of Colorado.

He and his wife Nancy, have a daughter, Katy, and two sons, T.R. and Michael.