EAST LANSING >> Tom Izzo is working for free. Well, at least in some capacity.

When Michigan State fired Alan Haller as athletic director May 1, Michigan State named Izzo a co-interim athletic director alongside deputy AD Jen Smith. Taking over the reins of the athletic department and helping hire new AD J Batt, Izzo had more on his plate than just basketball — like always for a coach who’s as active as anyone on the Michigan State campus.

Like usual, Izzo put Michigan State first. According to President Kevin Guskiewicz, Izzo denied any extra pay for his temporary role, one he and Smith will remain in until Batt takes over the week of June 16.

“Coach Izzo refused to take any additional compensation,” Guskiewicz told The Detroit News June 1. “He’s like, ‘I love this place. This is who I am. I’m here to help you and serve in this capacity.’”

Now, Izzo isn’t exactly working for free. His contract with Michigan State pays him $2.43 million in base salary, let alone all his benefits and bonuses. But Izzo’s free overtime isn’t exactly a surprise. He’s a Michigan State lifer, and the biggest payment, he says, is what Michigan State as a university has given him over 42 years as an assistant and head coach.

“For me, it’s a lot more than winning and losing. I mean, this is my home,” Izzo told The Detroit News, attending an event supporting Mike Garland’s Champions of the Heart foundation. “That’s why I care about the other sports. That’s why I care about the institution, and that’s why when they need me to do something, I’m going to do it.

“Every university right now is going through tough times. I didn’t need any more money to do a job that was a privilege to do, and so I appreciated (Guskiewicz) offering, and didn’t even think twice about it.”

In an increasingly corporate model of college athletics, the 70-year-old Izzo is one of the old guard holding firm to traditions and principles that are hard to jell with what college athletics looks like now. He’s gone to eight Final Fours, a national championship, 11 Big Ten championships and has the most wins in Big Ten history. And yet that’s all secondary to people and relationships, lessons he took from mentors Jud Heathcote and George Perles. He’s easy to spot around campus, attending a number of practices and games to support the wider athletic department. He has personally funded some of Michigan State’s renovations, from major donations football to hockey to Olympic sports.

“I’ve been pretty true to this place, and this place has been pretty true to me,” Izzo said. “And I’m not stupid. I mean, success and people appreciating you — a lot goes with winning. We’ve won enough that I’ve done that.”

Izzo cares about Michigan State. Deeply. Its traditions, its culture and especially its people. Like Garland, a friend of his since they were teammates at Northern Michigan in the ‘70s.

Shortly after Garland retired from Michigan State in 2022, he suffered cardiac arrest while driving. After passersby and paramedics rushed to save his life, Garland went on a ventilator and made a miracle recovery. When he was released from the hospital, Izzo personally made sure Garland would be in good hands.

“When I was released from the hospital, he wouldn’t let me go home,” Garland said. “So I stayed at his house for two months.”

“That’s who he is,” Garland continued. “That’s why I loved him from Day One. … He’s made a career — a Hall-of-Fame career — out of showing other people how to live their dreams like he lived his. It’s more important for him that his players succeed more than his own success. And when you pour into people like that, you’re going to have success. It’s going to come back to you in some way.”

And what Izzo pours into the university? That’s going to have an impact, too. There aren’t many schools where the basketball coach helps hire the president and the athletic director, but the reason behind Izzo’s consistent involvement is to ensure Michigan State finds the right people.

The ones who will be stewards of the university long after he’s retired — not any time soon, mind you, even though Izzo joked at Batt’s introduction about getting emails as an interim AD saying that he should fire himself.

“This place is going to mean something to me when I’m retired,” Izzo said. “It’s going to mean something to me when I’m dead, it’s going to mean something to me to my kids, my grandkids, because that’s the way I lived it here.”

That’s why the Batt hiring, made official Monday, is so important to Izzo and Michigan State. It’s a hire the Spartans couldn’t afford to get wrong; not when the professionalization of college athletics threatens to leave Michigan State behind. He’s someone who can handle the business side of the job, but also value the connections.

“If you ever have a bad day in college athletics, you haven’t gotten out of your office,” Batt said. “And so you’ll probably catch me, if I’ve had a long day or I’ve been staring at a Zoom screen, I’ll go find a practice. It’s my favorite way to reconnect with the mission, which is opportunities and impact.”

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

In hiring Batt, Michigan State has found someone who can be a steward of its program for a while, if all goes according to plan. To Izzo, the key moving forward is stability, particularly in the leaders running the show.

“One thing we’ve done a poor job of is keeping any consistency,” Izzo said. “I’m a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers, you know, three coaches in 60 years. Michigan State basketball, two coaches in 51 years, and there’s a reason we’ve maintained success. And at the same time, I’ve gone through too many presidents, too many ADs, too many football coaches, and hopefully we can start shoring that up. Because if we do, then I think we take off.”

Nine full-time and interim presidents, 10 ADs and seven football coaches in 43 years, to be exact. The hope is that the revolving door stops. That this iteration of the Michigan State brass is more permanent.

Michigan State certainly has consistency in Izzo, but he’s also aware that the university needs more — more than just him. Some may ask why at 70, Izzo hasn’t made the jump from the sidelines to administration.

First of all, he’s not done coaching.

But just as important: he knows others might do the job better, as is the hope with Batt.

“I wasn’t looking for just a business guy, personally,” Izzo said Wednesday, “even though it would have meant more money for my program if they thought they could do a better job of that. I think there has to be a balance. I think we’re past the days of my former football coach becoming the AD like happened in my high school, it happened at the college I was at. I don’t think that’s a clean slate anymore, either. I think someone has (to have) both.”

Both the business acumen to bring Michigan State to national prominence again, and the understanding of relationships and culture that won’t sacrifice its soul. If Batt can bring that to Michigan State, that’s worth more to Izzo than any check the university could cut.