KNOXVILLE, Tenn — Tennessee Athletics saw some success in 2023, and Danny White, the athletic director, is proud of that.
Football won a New Year’s Six bowl, men’s and women’s basketball made the Sweet 16, and baseball and softball made the College World Series. The University of Tennessee also became the first school since 1998 to do all of that in a year.
“It’s exactly what we are trying to build here. We are trying to build the best athletic department in the country," said White, who became athletic director in 2021. "With the power of Vol Nation and all the assets we have here, we can absolutely do that."
Other sports, like men’s and women’s tennis and most recently volleyball, made NCAA Tournament runs too.
“I’ll put our roster of coaches against anyone in the country," White said.
White said the fanbase has helped with getting the resources needed to try and compete at the highest level.
“The fact that we have a 102,000-seat stadium that’s sold out, a 22,000 arena that’s sold out, a baseball stadium that’s sold out, and when we make it bigger it will be sold out again," he said. "That allows us to give the biggest and the best in terms of operating budgets and how we support our programs to give our coaches competitive advantages and get our facilities back to where they once were at the top of the Southeastern Conference and the top in the country.”
Tennessee has accomplished winning conference championships in recent years. White wants to get to that next level of winning national championships.
“Our coaches, our student-athletes come to Tennessee to win it all," he said. "To win national championships — that’s why I came here. We have expectations to do that — to win, to be in the hunt for SEC Championships in the toughest conference in the country. That means you’re in the hunt for national championships.”
It’s been since 2009 since a team national championship was won in Tennessee when women's indoor track and field did so.
White thinks UT is right around the corner from getting back to glory.
“We want all our programs, all 20 of them to a point where they’re competing for conference and national championships," White said. "We have a storied history of doing that. We don’t have to recreate history, we just have to get it back. I think we are in the process of doing that.”