On Leadership: Plowman Interviews Danny White on Building an ‘Everything School’
Chancellor Donde Plowman sat down with UT Director of Athletics Danny White last month to talk about principled leadership and making hard decisions.
White, who was named Athletic Director of the Year by Sports Business Journal on May 21, discussed how growing up as the son of an athletic director impacted his career choices, how he approaches change management with his staff, and how he views his role in the national conversation around the changing landscape of college athletics.
The conversation, filmed on April 16, is the second in a series Plowman launched late last year featuring interviews with leaders of different kinds to explore how they got to where they are and the lessons they learned along the way.
White has been director of athletics at UT since 2021, when Plowman hired him from University of Central Florida, where he also served as athletics director. In his five years on Rocky Top, White has led the department to record revenue, a surge in attendance and TV viewership, the department’s first top-5 finish in the Learfield Director’s Cup, and three All-SEC titles. The department also earned its first national championship since 2009 and its 24th overall when the baseball team won the College World Series in 2024.
“We have had success in multiple sports. We’ve won national championships in a bunch of Olympic sports. And obviously, what Pat Summitt did, and I think the best way to build an athletic department is for an athletic department to be an extension of the whole university.” he said.
White went on to talk about the importance of creating community among student athletes and coaches.
“One of the first things we did is open up the dining hall for breakfast and lunch for every single student athlete, not just football. It was just football,” White said. “I want the Olympic rower, swimmer, volleyball player, to interact with the football and basketball players. I think that their competitive interests become contagious.”
The full interview is available for viewing in the link below.