Tennessee's Danny White named AD of the year by Sports Business Journal

Tennessee Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Danny White has been named the athletic director of the year by Sports Business Journal. 

“Danny’s impact on our campus and in the changing world of intercollegiate athletics has been transformational, and I am thrilled for his leadership to be recognized as the SBJ Athletic Director of the Year,” said Chancellor Donde Plowman. “Danny sets the tone with his competitive drive, strategic approach and problem-solving mindset, and has built an incredible team of athletics administrators committed to supporting student-athletes and winning with integrity. The culture he has built at Tennessee is truly special.”

White arrived at Tennessee in 2021 and since that time the Vols have enjoyed tremendous success across virtually all sports. Football has had two 10-win seasons and made their first appearance in the college football playoffs last December. Basketball, under the guidance of Rick Barnes, has made consecutive trips to the Elite Eight. Baseball is coming off a national title with Tony Vitello and women’s basketball under first year head coach Kim Caldwell made the Sweet Sixteen. 

The men’s basketball, football and baseball programs all finished ranked in the top-25 at the end of their respective regular seasons. Tennessee was one of only four athletic departments in the nation with that distinction.

Tennessee for the second straight year is in position for all 20 sports to make post season play. Last year, Tennessee finished third in the Learfield Directors’ Cup standings which is the Vols’ highest ever finish. The have won the SEC All-Sports trophy each of the last three years. 

Eleven sports finished in the top 10, with six in the top five in 2023-24. The banner year concluded with the baseball team winning its first national championship, the 24th team crown in Tennessee history, and the first since 2009.

In 2024, Tennessee became the only school in the nation to appear in the College Football Playoff, Elite Eight, and College World Series.

In addition to competitive success. The business side of Tennessee athletics has grown under White’s watch as well. Tennessee’s budget has double to $280 million which is one of the three largest budgets in college sports. 

“At Tennessee, we’re a part of the haves, not the have nots,” White said at the Big Orange Caravan earlier this month. “We’ve grown our budget. We’ve doubled our budget. We’ll hit $280 million this year from $140 four years ago. We’re probably top three in the country. So getting out resourced isn’t something that keeps keeps me awake at night. Understanding what the rules are in a given moment and making sure that they don’t move again is probably more of a concern.”

Those rules or lack of them are going to be an interesting topic at the SEC Meetings in Destin, Florida next week following Tennessee’s new state law that basically says they don’t have report to the proposed College Football Commission which was created to try and manage NIL. White’s stance is simple. Tennessee is playing to win.

“Whatever the rules of engagement are, if it’s about investing in our teams and making sure they have every competitive advantage possible that what we are going to do. We have a competitive administration. We have competitive coaches. We are not generating all of this revenues to put it in some coffers to make me feel good. We are generating revenue to reinvest in our programs to win at a high level,” White stated

White and his father, Kevin, are the first father-son duo to win the SBJ Athletic Director of the Year award. Kevin received this honor in 2014 during his tenure at Duke.