With Tennessee coming offa year of unprecedented success across all sports, athletic director Danny White has received a raise and contract extension that will make him the highest-paid athletic director in the SEC.UT-Knoxville Chancellor Donde Plowman announced the extension, which runs through July 2030, in a press release Thursday morning.
White will now be paid at least $2.75 million annually, a raise of more than $300,000from his previous basesalary of $2,425,500. It remains a six-year rollingdeal that will automatically be extended for an additional year on July 31 of each year so that the remaining term stays at six years, and he will continue to getthe same 5% annual increase he has received since his original contract.
His new deal includesenhancedincentives that will allow him to earn up to $600,000 annually in bonuses, a maximum that increased from $300,000.
"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," Plowman said. "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."
Under White's leadership, Tennessee hasenjoyedan impressive run of recent success. UT is coming off a third-place finish in the Learfield Directors' Cup standings, its highest finish since the award startedin 1993, and the Vols baseball team won its first national championship under coach Tony Vitello in June. It was Tennessee's first national championship of any kind since 2009.
The men's basketball teamis coming off an Elite Eight appearance, the second in program history, and the Volshave won a combined 20 games in football over the past two years under coach Josh Heupel.Tennessee alsowonitsthird consecutive SEC All-Sports Trophy this year, something that had never been done before White's arrival.
Tennessee was one of only two Power Five schools to send every team to the postseason last year — a first inschool history.Tennessee is the only university in the nation to have its football, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball and softball teams all reach the postseason in each of the last three years, and two of UT'sthree top-10 Directors' Cup finishes have come under White's watch.
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The Volsalso posted theirtwo best department-wide GPAs in school history over the past year, with a 3.40 in fall 2023 and a 3.37 in spring 2024.
"We have phenomenal leadership at the University of Tennessee — from our chancellor, my boss Donde Plowman, to our UT System president, Randy Boyd, and our board chair, John Compton," White said. "I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve such an upwardly mobile institution with talented, supportive people all around me. Our student-athletes, coaches and staff are inspired to be a part of something bigger than themselves — powered by the best fan base in sport. Together we have an opportunity to build somethingextraordinaryon Rocky Top. I believe that the momentum we've built in our first few years is only the beginning of a much more profound story."
Fundraising has remained one of White's strong suits. 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.
Tennesseehas sold out of football season tickets monthsbefore the start of the season each of the past two years, and the Vols now havea waiting list of approximately 15,000 for season tickets. They have also finished in the top five nationally in men's basketball attendance each of the past five seasons in which full-capacity attendance has been allowed, and they announced Wednesday that they have again sold out of men's basketball season tickets for the 2024-25 season.
Theirsuccess across all sports has been matched by unparalleled operational and business success. In 2021, White launched the My All campaignwith a fundraising goal of $500 million by 2026. The campaign has already exceeded that goal with $559 million in commitments. In 2023, Tennessee had its highest-ever operating revenue at more than $200 million, breaking the previous year's record by nearly $50 million.
White has also helpedthe Volsupgrade and renovateNeyland Stadium and Lindsey Nelson Stadium. He has provided new revenue streams, too, by agreeing to a naming-rights deal for Thompson-Boling Arena last year and a recently announced 20-year partnership with Pilot that was billed as a deal that preserved Neyland Stadium's name.
