Tennessee Director of Athletics Danny White was named the Athletic Director of the Year by the Sports Business Journal. The SBJ has been giving out the award since 2000 and White is just the first Tennessee and sixth SEC athletic director to earn the award.
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,” Chancellor Donde Plowman said in a statement. “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.”
The 2024-25 athletic year has been a banner one for Tennessee. Vol football made the 12-team College Football Playoffs in Josh Heupel’s fourth season as head coach thanks to a 10-2 (6-2 SEC) record thanks to rivalry wins over Alabama and Florida.
Tennessee men’s basketball had another strong season in Rick Barnes’ 10th as head coach. The Vols spent the vast majority of the year ranked in the nation’s top 10 and made a second straight run to the Elite Eight, defeating rival Kentucky in the Sweet 16 to do it. Under Barnes’ leadership, Tennessee has made it to the Elite Eight each of the last two seasons, something they had done just once previously.
The second major hire that White made at Tennessee was tabbing Kim Caldwell to restore the Lady Vols basketball program to their former glory. Time will tell whether Caldwell will achieve that but she had a strong first year in Knoxville, getting Tennessee back to the Sweet 16 and knocking off rival UConn for the first time in its last five tries.
The book has yet to be finished on Tennessee’s spring sports. Tennessee softball is hosting Nebraska this weekend in the Knoxville Super Regional and needs to win the three game series to return to the Women’s College World Series for the second time in three years.
Tennessee baseball is in Hoover looking to defend its SEC Tournament Championship. The Vols are In the outside looking in for hosting a regional in the NCAA Tournament after a shaky back half of SEC play. But Tennessee has the talent to make another deep run in the NCAA Tournament.
The Vols and Lady Vols have had success against in sports with lesser popularity this season, most notably in men’s and women’s tennis, rowing and men’s golf.
Financially, White led Tennessee’s athletic department $234,058,790 total operating revenue for the 2024 fiscal year. In the new age of paying student-athletes, making money as an athletic department is more important than ever.
