Alan Haller never went too far from home.
The Lansing native and Michigan State alum returned to campus after a few years in the NFL to become a police officer, then moved into the athletic department. He now faces an even bigger and broader task: running all of the Spartans' sports and pulling his alma mater’s athletic department out of debt.
MSU named Haller its 20th athletic director during a special Board of Trustees meeting Wednesday. Haller, 50, beat out current Auburn athletic director Allen Greene following interviews over the weekend, sources told the Free Press on Monday, after university president Samuel Stanley commissioned a national search to replace Bill Beekman.