Tennessee announced a contract extension for Danny White on Thursday, making him the highest paid athletics director in the SEC.
The extension runs through July 31, 2030 and increases White’s annual base salary to $2.75 million.
TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM
“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,” University of Tennessee chancellor Donde Plowman said in a statement. “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’s previously base salary was $2.2 million. According to a report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel, the terms of his new contract include up to $600,000 in incentives, a $300,000 bump from what he could have potentially made previously.
With the extension, White top Texas’ Chris Del Conte as the highest paid athletics director in the newly expanded 16-team SEC.
“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 in a statement. “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 something extraordinary on 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.”
Tennessee has undergone an athletics resurgence since White was hired in 2021.
The Vols have won numerous SEC titles across multiple sports, including men’s basketball, baseball and softball.
The Tennessee men’s basketball team reached the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight for just the second time in program history in 2023-24.
Women’s tennis made it to the Final Four in 2024 and baseball claimed its first-ever College World Series title, marking the school’s first national championship-winning team in more than a decade.
Tennessee football has risen back to the upper echelon of the SEC under Josh Heupel after years of dormancy, reaching No. 1 in the College Football Playoff rankings in 2022.
Ticket sales and contributions are at all-time highs with the Tennessee Fund announcing in June that $139.7 million was raised in 2024.
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