The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Chancellor Donde Plowman announced today that she has extended Danny White’s contract as vice chancellor and director of athletics in recognition of the extraordinary transformation White is leading in Tennessee’s Athletics department.
White has agreed to a contract extension starting at $2.2 million annually, with a six-year rolling term.
“Danny White’s strong and innovative leadership of our athletics department has created a championship culture and excellence across all sports in record time,” said Chancellor Donde Plowman. “He’s built the best team of athletics administrators in the country, a team committed to our student-athletes’ well-being and to winning with integrity. He has set audacious goals for Athletics and is exceeding every milestone. I appreciate his leadership, his vision and his commitment to making the University of Tennessee the very best.”
Through White’s first two years on Rocky Top, Tennessee has captured six SEC team championships, and the most recently completed academic year (2021-22) stood as one of Tennessee Athletics’ most comprehensively successful years in decades.
The Vols and Lady Vols enjoyed an historic year competitively, capturing SEC titles in women’s soccer, women’s swimming & diving, men’s basketball, and baseball—both regular-season and tournament. Tennessee won the USA TODAY Network SEC All-Sports Trophy for the first time ever, topping the men’s standings and finishing second in the women’s standings. That dominance helped springboard Tennessee to its best finish in the LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup (13th) in 15 years.
Tennessee football (CFP), baseball (five polls) and men’s tennis (ITA) each rose to No. 1 in the national rankings during 2022 as well. Men’s basketball earned a No. 5 ranking in the final AP poll of the 2021-22 campaign. And Football landed at No. 6 in the final AP poll—its best finish in 21 years.
“I am so fortunate to be in the right place, at the right time,” White said. “We have exceptional leadership—starting with Chancellor Donde Plowman—and incredible support from President Randy Boyd and Board of Trustees Chair John Compton. We have the best roster of coaches in college athletics, talented student-athletes and a dynamic administrative team to support the enterprise.
“Most importantly, the passion of Vol Nation gives us a unique opportunity to build the very best athletic department in America. We’re just getting started on Rocky Top. I can’t wait to see what’s next!”
Excitement surrounding the Tennessee football program under head coach Josh Heupel—hired by White in 2021—also reaped tangible benefits during the last offseason, as Vol Nation purchased a single-year record 17,297 new football season tickets prior to the team’s 11-2 2022 campaign. And more than 7,500 new season tickets have been sold for 2023 since September.
Academic performance also hit a high-water mark for Tennessee student-athletes in 2022. The Vols and Lady Vols posted an all-time record high cumulative GPA of 3.27 in the 2022 Spring semester. They then surpassed that mark with a record-setting 3.32 GPA in the 2022 Fall semester.
Notably, four sport programs—each of which also enjoyed significant competitive success in 2022—recorded their highest-ever semester GPA in the fall. Those sports were baseball, men’s basketball, football and men’s track & field (finished third at the NCAA Indoor Championships).
The Tennessee Fund in 2021-22 reported a record year across multiple fundraising metrics. For the fiscal year that ended on June 30 (FY22), the Tennessee Fund team set records for fundraising total ($80,759,936), cash receipts ($68,568,453) and total donors (18,859).
Since White launched the My All Campaign in the summer of 2021, the Tennessee Fund has engaged with close to 13,000 “new” donors—individuals who had never previously given to Tennessee Athletics.
White announced in December that commitments to the My All Campaign had climbed to more than $361 million—72 percent of the campaign’s goal of raising $500 million by summer 2026.
Multiple innovative initiatives spearheaded by White—such as moving the department’s outbound ticket sales operation in-house, increasing sponsorship revenue nearly 10 percent and introducing a pair of new and popular premium-seating offerings at Neyland Stadium, to name only a few—led to Tennessee Athletics posting its highest-ever single-year operating revenue of $154.5 million in FY22—with significant growth again forecasted for FY23.
Immediate success is nothing new for the 2019 NACDA Under Armour Athletics Director of the Year. White achieved rapid results during previous AD tenures at both Buffalo and UCF, where he spearheaded increases in both winning percentages, academic success and revenue. White is widely respected by his peers as an innovator and for his ability to generate new revenue. He also has proven himself a great identifier of talent who attracts and retains successful, high-achieving coaches.
-UT Athletics
