UCF athletics director Danny White, who helped dramatically raise the Knights’ national profile, has accepted an offer to take over as Tennessee’s next athletics director.
White agreed to a five-year deal to lead the Volunteers, a source confirmed to the Orlando Sentinel. The university recently announced NCAA recruiting violations within the football program that prompted the firing of football coach Jeremy Pruitt.
USA Today Sports’ Dan Wolken was the first to report the White hire and Tennessee formally announced the news Thursday afternoon.
“While I am very excited about the opportunity to become the next director of athletics at the University of Tennessee, this was an excruciatingly difficult decision for us as we have absolutely loved our time here at UCF,” White said in a statement released by UCF.
“As I stated when I took the job, our goal was to become one of the nation’s premier destinations for coaches and student-athletes. I also had a goal to excite our student body, staff and faculty, alumni and the Central Florida community. With the tremendous support of our student-athletes, coaches, staff, donors, students and all of Knight Nation, we certainly accomplished those goals. I want to especially thank all of our Shareholders Society members who really stepped up over the past five years to help us build a monster athletics department.”
White went on to thank each university president he worked with during his tenure.
His current contract pays him about $1 million a year and includes a $2.5 million buyout that would be owed to UCF if he accepted another job before May 2021.
His move now leaves UCF president Alexander Cartwright, who just took over leading the university in 2020, to spearhead a search for a new athletics director. Before taking over at UCF, Cartwright was chancellor of the University of Missouri. He has been a vocal supporter of athletic programs throughout his administrative career, donating to UCF’s Keep Charging on Fund to help offset losses sustained by the athletic department during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Under Alex’s leadership, the future is very bright at UCF,” White said in his farewell statement. “It was extremely difficult to tell Alex that I was leaving as he is a tremendous leader and friend. UCF is definitely in great hands, and I look forward to watching continued success of this phenomenal university.”
The next UCF athletics director will have substantial shoes to fill.
White transformed the UCF athletics program, shattering fundraising records and hiring a string of coaches who won conference championships.
He was hired by former UCF president John Hitt in 2015 as the football program wrapped up a winless season. Football coach George O’Leary, who also was serving as interim athletics director, was forced to retire midseason.
Football coaches Scott Frost and Josh Heupel led the Knights to 25 consecutive wins and back-to-back American Athletic Conference titles, with Frost steering the Knights to a win over Auburn in the Peach Bowl.
The Peach Bowl victory capped the only undefeated 2017-18 season by a Football Bowl Subdivision team, inspiring White to declare the Knights national champions and call out a system that did not give them a reasonable opportunity to earn a College Football Playoff semifinal bid.
White was once a lonely and often mocked voice pushing for playoff expansion, but the movement has gained many supporters as the same handful of teams earn coveted chances to compete for a national championship every season.
While he was known for a golden touch hiring coaches, White spent the majority of his time invested in the Knights’ fundraising efforts to help offset the dramatic gap in television revenue between the Knights in the American Athletic Conference and Power 5 conferences — the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC — and independent Notre Dame.
UCF announced White and his staff earned more than $35.5 million in commitments and $17.4 million in cash gifts during 2020.
Since arriving on campus in 2015, White’s department has seen exponential increases in fundraising revenue.
In 2016, UCF received $8 million in fundraising commitments, compared to $6.5 million it received in 2012, according to UCF Athletics.
White said the funds were essential to not only upgrade the Knights’ performance spaces, but also to help support athletes’ academic efforts. UCF continued its consistently strong academic performance across all sports during his tenure.
During the coronavirus pandemic, the athletic program continued its fundraising efforts and secured commitments of more than $1.6 million for the Keep Charging On Fund. White launched the fund to help offset some of the department’s deep financial losses during the pandemic. UCF was able to avoid layoffs that hit other programs.
His work in all areas helped Tennessee quickly focus on hiring White, who was ranked the No. 4 athletics director in the nation by Stadium this past year.
“Danny White is an innovative leader in college athletics with a strong track record in recruiting and developing leaders. He brings the combination of winning attitude, competitive drive, and dedication to integrity and academics that we are looking for,” Tennessee chancellor Donde Plowman said.
UCF fans and athletes posted messages on social media indicating they were shocked and saddened to learn White was leaving, with running back Otis Anderson tweeting it was “the end of an era.”
The UCF community responded to White’s vision for growing the athletic program and fierce defense of the Knights.
He insisted UCF had reached a point where it should only consider home-and-home football game agreements with Power 5 opponents, rejecting the more common two-for-one offers to play two games on the road at Power 5 venues in exchange for one game at home.
Now White will inevitably be asked if he plans to offer home-and-home agreements to programs like UCF now that he has taken over a Power 5 program.
