EAST LANSING -- It wasn't that long ago that Mark Hollis was presiding over what was being called the golden age of Michigan State athletics.
With the longest-tenured basketball and football coach combination in the country, Michigan State put together its longest sustained run of football success under his watch. The basketball program also continued to be one of the country's most consistent and successful.
There's been no shortage of celebratory moments in Hollis' nine-year tenure. But on Tuesday, as he stood at the podium at the Spartan Stadium media center, the Michigan State athletic director's tone could hardly have been more different than it's been through most of the last several years.