Coming 'home' fueled Michael's return to Illinois

"An opportunity to come back home was phenomenal. No job is easy, but the jobs at low mid-majors are certainly getting a whole lot more difficult."

Michael will give up his title as the longest-serving athletic director in the Ohio Valley Conference when he leaves EIU. During his time in Charleston, the Panthers won 24 conference titles, including 12 in the last four years.

Michael's time at EIU also included notable facilities improvements, including a naming rights deal for what's now Groniger Arena and reopening McAfee Gym as the home of EIU volleyball. The graduation rate for athletes also increased during Michael's tenure, and EIU won consecutive OVC Sportsmanship Awards in 2024 and 2025.

"I know we're leaving it better than we got it 12 years ago," Michael said. "There's still a ton of work to do, and we've got some really, really good people there. I'm confident that (EIU President Jay Gatrell) will find a really good leader. My hope is that person can pick up where we're leaving it and make it better as well. We've invested way too much not to want them to find ways to be successful. That's hard to walk away from."

While the 55-year-old Michael called his decision to leave EIU for Illinois "bittersweet" he was also certain it was the right move at this point of his career. Especially because it meant a homecoming for the former Illini basketball player and administrator.

"I first stepped foot on that campus as a skinny freshman basketball player in 1989," Michael said. "I grew up there in every way. The core values of who I am as an administrator were formed, shaped, developed and cemented in those 18 years that I worked in the department."

Michael informed his staff at EIU on Tuesday morning that he he had accepted the Illinois deputy athletic director job. Part of his message to his staff reinforced something he made clear in a dozen years in Charleston.

"Every day I preach to the student-athletes at EIU and the recruits that I meet with that they have to make this their program, their home," Michael said. "This will be their institution for the rest of their life. That's what I get to do. I get to come back to my institution. Even though I won't be working directly with my program — the basketball program — it's absolutely very meaningful down to my soul about what that is. To be able to come back at the back end of my career and do that is really, really special for us. Everybody doesn't get to do that."

Michael will have direct oversight for Illinois football and men's and women's track and field as part of his role as deputy athletic director. As the second-highest ranking administrator in the DIA, Michael will also oversee facilities management and capital projects along with the business office. He'll approach that role with a different perspective than he had during his first 18 years in the DIA.

Michael started his DIA career as an academic counselor in 1996 before being named assistant athletic director for academic services in 2002. Further promotions came in 2008 (associate athletic director) and 2012 (senior associate athletic director) before he landing the EIU job almost 12 years ago in July 2012.

"When you sit in the (athletic director) chair, you learn so much across the spectrum of leading people from motivating to holding accountable to just trying to help prepare folks to be successful," Michael said. "My hope is I can really be a great asset for Josh and the rest of the team. I don't have all the answers, but I've got 30 years in the business and have seen it from all different levels. There's a lot of things I'm going to have to learn, too, but I'm also excited about being around a group of people that have a mindset of, 'How can we win championships? How can we win a national championship? How can we be excellent in every way?' I'm really rejuvenated to be able to be in an environment like that."