University of Tennessee-Knoxville Chancellor Donde Plowman made a landmark announcement on Thursday morning that will continue the upward trajectory of Tennessee Athletics.
According to a Tennessee news release on Thursday, Plowman has extended Danny White’s contract as Vice Chancellor and Athletics Director until 2030.
While Tennessee’s release doesn’t say it, a report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel gives some more details about White’s contract extension. According to Thamel’s report, White will now be the highest-paid athletic director in the SEC with an annual base salary of $2.75 million.
Sources: Tennessee is amending athletic director Danny White’s contract to make him the highest paid athletic director in the SEC. White will jump to an annual base salary of $2.75 million. His contract remains a six-year, rolling deal that’s through July of 2030. pic.twitter.com/LHp4NgeJkk
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) August 29, 2024
Knox News’ Tennessee football reporter Adam Sparks added more to the story, stating that White is now the “highest-paid athletics director at a public university in the country” following the contract extension, based on documents that USA Network had obtained.
According to Sparks, White’s new deal went into effect on Aug. 1, 2024, as he was making a base salary of $2.425 million prior to the extension.
Danny White’s contract extension comes on the heels of Tennessee’s best combined athletics year in school history along with a landmark preservation/sponsorship deal with Pilot for Neyland Stadium.
Including the coveted National Championship from Tony Vitello and the Tennessee baseball team, here’s a look at what Tennessee did in 2023-2024 alone, according to UTK:
- “Tennessee was one of only two Power Five schools to send every team to postseason last year — a first in UT history.
- Tennessee finished third in the Learfield Directors’ Cup standings for the first time since the award began in 1993. Two of Tennessee’s three top 10 Directors’ Cup finishes have come under White’s watch.
- Tennessee won its third straight SEC All-Sports Trophy, something that had never been done before White’s arrival.
- Baseball won its first national championship under Head Coach Tony Vitello, the university’s first national championship of any kind since 2009.
- The two best athletics department GPAs in school history occurred in the fall 2023 semester with a 3.40 and spring 2024 with a 3.37.”
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Tennessee won four SEC titles in 2023-2024, which upped their total to 12 since White and his staff took over the athletics department in 2021. For context, Tennessee only won two SEC titles in the four years leading up to 2021.
Tennessee has re-established itself as a household brand across the nation and is seemingly just getting started. You can look across the entire sports landscape and see some sort of Tennessee connection – Dalton Knecht leading all scorers in the NBA Summer League, Jordan Beck chopping it up with Peyton Manning and Todd Helton with the Rockies, Candace Parker becoming the President of Adidas Women’s Basketball, Jason Witten elevating high school football coaching in Texas, and much more.
Tennessee has also seen significant fundraising success under White’s leadership.
According to UTK, “The Tennessee Fund reported its third consecutive record year across multiple fundraising metrics in fiscal year 2024, closing the year on June 30 with a total of $139.7 million raised.”
Tennessee announced a monumental partnership with Pilot on Aug. 13, with the goal of preserving historic Neyland Stadium. Pilot is now the official presenting partner of Neyland Stadium and Shields-Watkins Field, as well as the Neyland Stadium Renovation project.
The official slogan for the partnership reads: “Neyland Stadium. Home of the Vols. Proudly preserved by Pilot.”
“When Danny says he and his team of exceptional athletics administrators and coaches are working to build the best athletics department in the country, those are not just empty words,” Chancellor Donde Plowman said in a statement on Thursday. “Danny is visionary — a leader in our conference and across the country — and is focused every day on creating the very best experiences for our student-athletes, our fans and our athletics department. That focus and commitment are yielding extraordinary results across all sports.”
White helped craft a massive extension for Tony Vitello following his National Championship-winning season, which can be found here. Vitello’s contract includes a stipulation that his buyout is cut in half if White is no longer Tennessee’s AD at the time. The stipulation shows Vitello’s clear commitment to White as the two have helped usher in a new era of Tennessee baseball. Tennessee’s Lindsey Nelson Stadium is currently undergoing major renovations to become one of the premiere venues in college baseball.
