MSU's John Engler went against his word, hired Bill Beekman as AD

David Jesse | Detroit Free Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Michigan State introduces Bill Beekman as new AD Bill Beekman was hired as Michigan State's new athletic director on Monday, July 16, 2018. Hear from John Engler, Mark Dantonio, Tom Izzo and Beekman.

Michigan State University interim President John Engler was clear: MSU was going to have a national search for a new athletic director and no internal candidates were going to be considered.

But on Monday, MSU officially promoted Bill Beekman, taking away the interim tag from the longtime MSU employee — he's been there since 1995 — and making him the permanent athletic director.

There was no national search. No other candidates were interviewed, Engler said.

"As we started talking about the search, I started hearing from virtually everyone that they loved what Bill was doing," Engler said in a news conference introducing Beekman on Monday in East Lansing. "I had several people tell me that Bill was a calming presence."

Engler said in February he would search nationally and externally for an athletic director. On Monday, he said Beekman posses a wide range of experiences, including "first and foremost" that he is a MSU graduate.

More: Who is new MSU athletic director Bill Beekman?

"Time after time, Bill's performance in these various roles have earned him promotions," he said. "I do this with the full concurrence of the board of trustees.

"Bill is going to take on this role with the full support of Spartan Nation."

The move has riled up those, including Larry Nassar survivors, who see the move as just another example of MSU circling the wagons and keeping everything in house. The Free Press was the first to report Beekman would be hired.

"I've heard nothing but good things about (Beekman), but how can we keep just move people around inside the university?" said MSU alum Todd Mills, who graduated in 1988 and lives in Grand Rapids. "We need some people to come in with no ties to MSU, take a close look at everything we are doing and change what needs to be changed."

Current MSU senior Lisa Worthy, 23, of Novi, was blunter in her assessment.

"They talk about reform, but they don't really want to do anything that might show some reform," she said.

Beekman took over as interim athletic director when Mark Hollis stepped aside hours before ESPN ran a story questioning the behavior of the department when it comes to sexual assault.

He has never been involved in any athletics administration. Engler said that means Beekman is an outsider, a move Engler said he did deliberately.

"I'm worried about that," said Mark Tillman, a 1997 MSU graduate who lives in East Lansing. "How can he know if they are doing things correctly? How can he make changes?"

As they introduced Beekman on Monday, MSU administrators and even coaches kept playing on Beekman's history with MSU.

"He is a Spartan and he has the best interests of Spartans at heart," football coach Mark Dantonio said.

Not all were swayed by that.

"They just don't get it," said Mary Tollman, a 2001 MSU graduate who lives in Ann Arbor. "Just because you are at the university and love the university doesn't mean you should get the job. That's been the problem there – we keep picking people who are so tied to the university that they can't see what's wrong with it."

The lack of athletic experience didn't scare the Board of Trustees, members said in the news conference.

"Bill displays the highest values we strive to display," Board chairman Brian Breslin said. "Over the past several months, the university has made significant improvements. ... The Board has confidence Bill will uphold those changes and continue to look for improvements where athletics can be a leader."

Beekman has been vice president and secretary of the Board of Trustees since 2008 and previously served as executive director of the MSU Alumni Association. According to his university bio and LinkedIn pages, the 1989 MSU graduate was hired by his alma mater in 1995 as an administrator with the MSU HealthTeam and served as assistant dean for finance and planning in the College of Human Medicine from 1998-2004. He also has served as a senior consultant to the provost and the vice president for finance and operations.

“I guess what I would say to those folks (doubting my credentials) is give us six months or a year and reassess," Beekman said, "and I think you’ll be pleased.”

Despite being an interim president, Engler has been reshaping the upper levels of MSU's administration.

He named Bob Young as general counsel, giving him a three-year deal, despite objections by a couple of Board members. That means Young will be at the school past when Engler's tenure should end.

The Board is currently doing a national search for a new president, but has said it will be at least the end of next school year — in June 2019 — before that person is in place.

Contact David Jesse: 313-222-8851 or djesse@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @reporterdavidj.