Danny White, Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics at the University of Tennessee, was named Athletic Director of the Year by
Sports Business Journal. The award was presented to him at the Sports Business Awards in New York City on Wednesday evening.
White is the first Athletics Director at the University of Tennessee to receive this prestigious accolade.
"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 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.
Since arriving at Rocky Top in 2021, White has revitalized Tennessee Athletics, bringing it back to national prominence.
The momentum at Rocky Top reached a historic high in 2023-24, as Tennessee Athletics achieved its best year ever. It became one of only two Power Five schools to qualify all its teams for postseason play, marking the first time in UT history that this has occurred.
The across-the-board success helped Tennessee earn a third-place finish in the LEARFIELD Directors' Cup standings, its best mark ever, and its third straight SEC All-Sports Trophy. Tennessee became the second school to win three consecutive SEC All-Sports titles.
Before White's arrival, Tennessee had never won the SEC All-Sports Trophy or finished in the top five of the Directors' Cup.
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 8, and College World Series.
During the 2024-25 academic year, Tennessee is the only university with its football program competing in the College Football Playoff, while both its men's and women's basketball teams advanced to the Sweet 16. Additionally, Tennessee's men's basketball team reached the Elite Eight for the second consecutive season, marking the first time in school history that the team has made back-to-back appearances in the Elite Eight.
Tennessee is well-positioned to have all 20 of its sports teams reach the postseason for the second consecutive year. If successful, it would be the only Power Four school in the nation to achieve this feat for two straight seasons.
Since arriving on Rocky Top, White has spearheaded an unprecedented budget growth of nearly $100 million off the field.
For fiscal year 2024, Tennessee Athletics had $234,058,790 in total operating revenue. This new high watermark in UT Athletics history, eclipsing last year's record total of just over $202 million, was $234 million.
The historic total was due to impressive levels of self-generated income for Tennessee Athletics. Ticket sales increased over 16 percent from $39.7 million in FY 2023 to $46.6 million in FY 2024. It marked the best year of ticket revenue in Tennessee Athletics history. The top two years of ticket revenue on Rocky Top have occurred over the last two fiscal years.
Contributions soared to new levels for the third straight year, with $72.7 million coming in FY 2024. It marks a staggering increase of 233 percent since FY 2021.
White has made substantial investments in Tennessee's athletics facilities, including the modernization of two iconic venues: Neyland Stadium and Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The budget for Phase 1 of the Neyland Stadium renovation is $337 million, while the total budget for the Lindsey Nelson Stadium project exceeds $100 million.
White and his leadership team partnered with Pilot, designating it as the presenting partner of the $337 million Neyland Stadium renovation project, which commenced in 2022. Additionally, Pilot became the official travel stop for Tennessee athletics. In 2023, Tennessee secured a 10-year naming rights deal worth $20 million with Food City, which resulted in rebranding the school's long-standing basketball home to Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.
UT is undertaking major renovations and additions to six venues: Neyland Stadium, Lindsey Nelson Stadium, Sherri Parker Lee Stadium, Anderson Training Center, Food City Center, and the Neyland Entertainment District.
Sports Business Journal Athletic Director of the Year (2000-2025)
2000 — Lew Perkins, University of Connecticut
2001 — Ted Leland, Stanford University
2002 — Bob Bowlsby, University of Iowa
2003 — Andy Geiger, Ohio State University
2004 — Eric Hyman, Texas Christian University
2005 — DeLoss Dodds, University of Texas
2006 — Jeremy Foley, University of Florida
2007 — Tom Jurich, University of Louisville
2008 — Ron Wellman, Wake Forest University
2009 — Joe Castiglione, University of Oklahoma
2010 — Gene Smith, Ohio State University
2011 — DeLoss Dodds, University of Texas
2012 — Mark Hollis, Michigan State University
2013 — Mal Moore, University of Alabama
2014 — Kevin White, Duke University
2015 — Jeff Long, University of Arkansas
2016 — Gene Smith, Ohio State University
2017 — Dan Radakovich, Clemson University
2018 — Jim Phillips, Northwestern University
2019 — Mitch Barnhart, University of Kentucky
2020 — Scott Stricklin, University of Florida
2021 — Mack Rhoades, Baylor University
2022 — Sandy Barbour, Penn State University
2023 — J.D. Wicker, San Diego State University
2024 – Chris Del Conte, University of Texas
2025 – Danny White, University of Tennessee