Alan Glenn Haller (born August 9, 1970) is an American college athletic administrator and former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player. He was previously the

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

, a position he held from September 2021 to May 2025. Haller's 2022 salary was $800,000. Haller played professionally as a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) with the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

and

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

. He was selected in the fifth round of the

1992 NFL draft The 1992 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 26–27, 1992, at the Marriott M ...

by the Steelers. He played his first three games in the NFL with the Steelers before he was released and signed with the Cleveland Browns, where he played another three games. He returned to the Steelers in 1993 and joined the expansion

in 1995 before retiring after the 1995 season. In his professional career, Haller played only 12 games in three seasons, earning no starts and no statistics. Though he was a defensive back, Haller played mostly as a special teams player. After retiring from the NFL, Haller returned to Michigan State University and became a police officer with the Michigan State University Department of Police and Public Safety. He spent 13 years on the force, eventually working his way up to 1st Lieutenant of the Uniform Division. In 2006, Haller, along with athletic director Mark Hollis, men's basketball coach

Tom Izzo Thomas Michael Izzo (, ; born January 30, 1955) is an American college basketball coach who has been the head coach at Michigan State University since 1995. On April 4, 2016, Izzo was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Izzo has le ...

, and former athletic director Ron Mason, was a member of the selection team that brought head football coach

Mark Dantonio Mark Justin Dantonio (born March 9, 1956) is an American college football coach and former player. His most recent head coaching position was at Michigan State University, a position he had held from 2007 to 2019. He led the Michigan State Spar ...

to Michigan State. In June 2010, Haller was named associate athletics director for administration for the Michigan State athletic department. He was the human resource officer for the athletics department and the student-athlete ombudsman.

College football career

Haller attended Michigan State after attending J. W. Sexton High School in

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. The most populous city in Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County, parts of the city extend into Eaton County, Michigan, Eaton County and nort ...

. While in high school, Haller rushed for 1,245 yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior. He earned a scholarship to Michigan State and was converted into a defensive back by Spartans head coach George Perles. He was a three-year starter at both corner and safety. In 1991, he won the Co-Captains award for leadership. Haller finished his college career with three interceptions.

NFL career

Haller was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fifth round of the

. Though he made the team, he mainly played special teams, and was placed on waivers on November 17, 1992. The Cleveland Browns claimed Haller off waivers and like in Pittsburgh, Haller played mostly special teams. Less than a month after joining the Browns, Haller was injured and placed on Injured Reserved. The Browns released Haller in 1993 and he spent all of 1994 out of pro football. He later signed with the expansion

, appearing in just two games. The Panthers released Haller in camp the following summer, essentially ending his NFL career.

Career after football

On September 1, 2021, Haller was named the athletic director at Michigan State University. Haller was the 20th athletic director in the school's history at that time. He had just prior served as the assistant vice president and deputy athletic director for Michigan State athletics. Michigan State University announced in May 2025 that Alan Haller is no longer serving as vice president and director of intercollegiate athletics, effective May 11, 2025. Prior to his tenure in the MSU Athletic Department, Haller was a police officer with the Michigan State University Police Department for 13 years.

Personal life

Haller graduated from Michigan State with a B.A. in criminal justice and after his rookie season, he spent time as an intern in the Cleveland district attorney's office. He has two sons, Devin and Blake, and a daughter Allison.

References

External links

Michigan State profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Haller, Alan 1970 births Living people American football defensive backs Carolina Panthers players Cleveland Browns players Pittsburgh Steelers players Michigan State Spartans athletic directors Michigan State Spartans football players Players of American football from Lansing, Michigan African-American college athletic directors in the United States African-American police officers Law enforcement officials from Michigan