Tennessee athletic director Danny White just had a year to remember for Tennessee athletics. And now, it appears as though the university wants to make sure that White stays in town to continue to do one of the best jobs of any AD in the country.
According to ESPN senior college football writer Pete Thamel, the university and White agreed to a raise this week.
It's not an extension as far as years, but it's a sizeable increase in salary along with an increased bonus potential. Per ESPN , White is now the highest paid athletic director in the SEC, with his annual base salary bumping up from $2.2 million to $2.75 million.
But really, there aren't many athletic directors who've done what White has done during his time in Knoxville, especially last year.
The Vols have been the standard for how to run an athletic department since White arrived in January 2021. First, his most important and immediate hire, Josh Heupel, has brought Tennessee from a decade and a half of football ugliness to national relevance again.
With an 11-win season in 2022 that saw the Vols beat Florida and Alabama on the way to the school's first major bowl win since the Fiesta Bowl in January 1999, not to mention major success on the recruiting trail, Tennessee football is pointed squarely in the right direction on White's watch. Of course, that's of paramount importance to most UT fans.
But, unlike most other programs, Tennessee is also hot in both basketball and baseball. An Elite Eight appearance and a College World Series national championship is pretty incredible. Then, you add in other sports, like softball and rowing, where Tennessee had substantial success, and UT finished third in the Learfield Director's Cup that evaluates overall athletics success.
But it's not just the programs on the field. It's the other thing that matters perhaps more: money. Tennessee athletics have been as financially successful now as it's ever been, eclipsing the $200 million revenue mark in 2023 for the first time ever. White was able to land a partnership (or sponsorship, if you want to be more accurate) with Pilot to finance improvements to Neyland Stadium without giving up the name. The adjoining entertainment district is coming down the pike. Lindsey Nelson Stadium is getting a massive improvement to make it one of the biggest and best ballparks in the nation.
And let's not forget about how he, Donde Plowman, and the university stood up to the NCAA back at the start of the year and pushed back when it tried to enforce its arbitrary and muddled rules regarding NIL.
There's so much to like about what has happened with White in charge. Now, it seems like he'll be here for the near future and hopefully continuing to oversee new heights on the athletic fields in Knoxville.
Related: Three former Tennessee Vols just pulled off a highly improbably NFL feat on Tuesday
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