Tag: Donde Plowman

Danny White’s contract at Tennessee extended

Donde Plowman announces she has extended Danny White’s contract as vice chancellor and director of athletics at Tennessee.

The University of Tennessee announced a contract extension for vice chancellor and director of athletics Danny White until 2030.

“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,” Donde Plowman, Chancellor, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, said. “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 also discussed his extension at Tennessee.

“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. “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.”

Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire

Donde Plowman appointed to SEC’s executive committee

Tennessee’s Donde Plowman appointed to SEC’s executive committee.

University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Chancellor Donde Plowman will serve as vice president of the Southeastern Conference’s executive committee.

Plowman will begin a two-year term on July 1.

“It’s an honor to work alongside the chancellors and presidents in the SEC, who I know to be some of the country’s most thoughtful and capable leaders,” Plowman said in a press release. “I appreciate the opportunity to continue serving on the executive council in this new role and I look forward to the great work we will do together on behalf of our students, fans, and institutions.”

2023-24 Southeastern Conference executive committee:

Stuart Bell (Alabama), President

Donde Plowman (Tennessee), Vice President

Ron Rychlak (Ole Miss), Secretary

Mun Choi (Missouri)

Hunter Yurachek (Arkansas)

Ann Carr (Mississippi State)

Paul Batista (Texas A&M)

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Tennessee hosts alumni at Congressional Baseball Game for Charity in Washington, D.C.

Tennessee hosts alumni at the 2023 Congressional Baseball Game for Charity in Washington, D.C.

The University of Tennessee hosted alumni at the annual Congressional Baseball Game for Charity in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday.

“Everywhere you look, UT — especially in DC,” University of Tennessee president Randy Boyd said. “Proud of the difference our alums are making in our nation’s capital and happy to host them at the Congressional charity baseball game.”

The Congressional Baseball Game for Charity was held at Nationals Park. The game was first played in 1909 and features members of the United States Congress on both team rosters.

“Had a great time visiting with Tennesseans, Vols, and Tennessee alumni who call Washington, D.C., home before the Congressional Baseball Game this evening,” Chancellor of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville Donde Plowman said. “Inspiring to see the representation our great state has in so many ways and grateful for the support they provide UT Knoxville.”

Danny White receives contract extension

Tennessee vice chancellor and director of athletics Danny White receives contract extension.

Tennessee vice chancellor and director of athletics Danny White received a contract extension Wednesday.

White agreed to a contract extension worth $2.2 million annually with a six-year rolling term.

UT press release:

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Chancellor Donde Plowman announced today that she has extended Danny White’s contract as vice chancellor and director of athletics in recognition of the extraordinary transformation White is leading in Tennessee’s athletics department.

White has agreed to a contract extension starting at $2.2 million annually, with a six-year rolling term.

“Danny White’s strong and innovative leadership of our athletics department has created a championship culture and excellence across all sports in record time,” said Chancellor Donde Plowman. “He’s built the best team of athletics administrators in the country, a team committed to our student-athletes’ well-being and to winning with integrity. He has set audacious goals for Athletics and is exceeding every milestone. I appreciate his leadership, his vision and his commitment to making the University of Tennessee the very best.”

Through White’s first two years on Rocky Top, Tennessee has captured six SEC team championships, and the most recently completed academic year (2021-22) stood as one of Tennessee Athletics’ most comprehensively successful years in decades.

The Vols and Lady Vols enjoyed an historic year competitively, capturing SEC titles in women’s soccer, women’s swimming & diving, men’s basketball and baseball—both regular-season and tournament. Tennessee won the USA TODAY Network SEC All-Sports Trophy for the first time, topping the men’s standings and finishing second in the women’s standings. That dominance helped springboard Tennessee to its best finish in the LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup (13th) in 15 years.

Tennessee football (CFP), baseball (five polls) and men’s tennis (ITA) each rose to No. 1 in the national rankings during 2022. Men’s basketball earned a No. 5 ranking in the final AP poll of the 2021-22 campaign. And football landed at No. 6 in the final AP poll — its best finish in 21 years.

“I am so fortunate to be in the right place, at the right time,” White said. “We have exceptional leadership — starting with Chancellor Donde Plowman — and incredible support from President Randy Boyd and Board of Trustees Chair John Compton. We have the best roster of coaches in college athletics, talented student-athletes and a dynamic administrative team to support the enterprise.

“Most importantly, the passion of Vol Nation gives us a unique opportunity to build the very best athletic department in America. We’re just getting started on Rocky Top. I can’t wait to see what’s next!”

Excitement surrounding the Tennessee football program under head coach Josh Heupel — hired by White in 2021 — also reaped tangible benefits during the last offseason, as Vol Nation purchased a single-year record 17,297 new football season tickets prior to the team’s 11-2 2022 campaign. And more than 7,500 new season tickets have been sold for 2023 since September.

Academic performance also hit a high-water mark for Tennessee student-athletes in 2022. The Vols and Lady Vols posted an all-time record high cumulative GPA of 3.27 in the 2022 spring semester. They then surpassed that mark with a record-setting 3.32 GPA in the 2022 fall semester.

Notably, four sport programs — each of which also enjoyed significant competitive success in 2022 — recorded their highest-ever semester GPA in the fall. Those sports were baseball, men’s basketball, football and men’s track & field (finished third at the NCAA Indoor Championships).

The Tennessee Fund in 2021-22 reported a record year across multiple fundraising metrics. For the fiscal year that ended on June 30 (FY22), the Tennessee Fund team set records for fundraising total ($80,759,936), cash receipts ($68,568,453) and total donors (18,859).

Since White launched the My All Campaign in the summer of 2021, the Tennessee Fund has engaged with close to 13,000 new donors — individuals who had never previously given to Tennessee Athletics.

White announced in December that commitments to the My All Campaign had climbed to more than $361 million — 72 percent of the campaign’s goal of raising $500 million by summer 2026.

Multiple innovative initiatives spearheaded by White — such as moving the department’s outbound ticket sales operation in-house, increasing sponsorship revenue nearly 10 percent and introducing a pair of new and popular premium-seating offerings at Neyland Stadium, to name only a few — led to Tennessee athletics posting its highest-ever single-year operating revenue of $154.5 million in FY22 — with significant growth again forecasted for FY23.

Immediate success is nothing new for the 2019 NACDA Under Armour Athletics Director of the Year. White achieved rapid results during previous AD tenures at both Buffalo and UCF, where he spearheaded increases in both winning percentages, academic success and revenue. White is widely respected by his peers as an innovator and for his ability to generate new revenue. He also has proven himself a great identifier of talent who attracts and retains successful, high-achieving coaches.

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Donde Plowman issues statement on SEC expansion

Donde Plowman issues statement on SEC expansion.

The Southeastern Conference granted membership to Oklahoma and Texas on Friday.

Membership is slated to begin for the Longhorns and Sooners on July 1, 2025.

Following the SEC granting membership to Oklahoma and Texas, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Chancellor Donde Plowman issued a statement on league expansion.

“I am pleased to welcome the Universities of Oklahoma and Texas to the Southeastern Conference,” Plowman said in a UT press release. “The SEC is special – with fierce competition at the highest levels of college athletics, and a team spirit when it comes to collaborating in support of our students and student-athletes. Including universities of this caliber on our SEC team will push all of us to be better.”

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Chancellor Donde Plowman details hiring process for Danny White

University of Tennessee, Knoxville Chancellor Donde Plowman introduced Danny White as the Vols’ next athletics director Jan. 22.

University of Tennessee, Knoxville Chancellor Donde Plowman introduced Danny White as the Vols’ next athletics director Jan. 22.

Plowman detailed UT’s hiring process with White.

“I want to give you all some insight into how this all transpired over the last few days,” Plowman said. “We retained Parker Executive search firm on Saturday and they began to compile a list of potential AD candidates. I spent Monday evening and all-day Tuesday taking calls and talking to different groups inside athletics such as head coaches, senior leadership teams, student-athlete advisory council, the faculty-senate committee on athletics and groups of donors, just try to try to find out what we should be looking for in our next athletic director. We were confident that the position would be attractive and attract robust interest. We were immediately proven correct. Our search firm presented us with an impressive and diverse list of prospects, but it was clear who the top candidate was. It was Danny White.

“We moved swiftly, and I had my first conversation with Danny on Tuesday night over Zoom during the Tennessee-Florida basketball game actually, we both missed that. On Wednesday morning, president (Randy) Boyd, chairman (John) Compton and I had a 90-minute Zoom meeting with Danny, and that evening, the three of us flew to Orlando to meet with Danny and his lovely family. We were blown away by his ideas, his character and his commitment to both academic and athletic success.”

University of Tennessee’s new Director of Athletics Danny White, speaks during a press conference announcing his hiring, on UT’s campus in Knoxville, Tenn., Friday, Jan. 22, 2021.

White comes to Tennessee after serving as athletics director at Buffalo (2012-15) and UCF (2015-2021).

“Danny is a leader, an innovator, a builder,” Plowman said. “He comes from an extraordinary family of college athletics administrators, including the renowned and respected athletic director at Duke University, his dad Kevin White.”

His father, Kevin White, is the athletics director at Duke. His brother, Brian White, is the vice president and director of athletics at Florida Atlantic. Mike White, his other brother, is the men’s basketball head coach at Florida. His sister, Mariah Chappell, is the assistant athletics director for administration at SMU.

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Knox County Health Department notifies UT of staff member testing positive for COVID-19

Knox County Health Department notifies UT of staff member testing positive for COVID-19.

KNOXVILLE – The Knox County Health Department has notified the University of Tennessee that a staff member has tested positive for COVID-19.

The employee was last on campus March 16 during UT’s spring break.

Chancellor Donde Plowman released the following statement Sunday.

UT release:

Dear students, staff, and faculty:

We received confirmation today from the Knox County Health Department that a staff member has tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19).

The employee was last on campus March 16 during spring break. UT Knoxville administrators are assisting health department staff in reaching out to anyone with whom the employee may have come into close contact.

Our staff has been extensively deep cleaning campus buildings and, using appropriate protective measures, will conduct a thorough cleaning of areas where the employee worked.

The staff member is recovering at home in self-isolation. To protect individuals’ private health information, UT Knoxville will not identify faculty, staff, or students diagnosed with COVID-19.

Our thoughts right now are with this member of our campus community. I wish them a speedy recovery, and we are committed to providing them with care and support.

We remain focused on the health and well-being of our campus and our broader community. We will continue our aggressive measures for social distancing as we all do our part to limit community spread, flatten the curve of infections, and protect those who are particularly vulnerable to this disease.

As COVID-19 continues to spread, we expect to learn of more cases among members of the campus and local community. We are aware that some members of the campus community who suspect they may have COVID-19 are already self-isolating as they await further testing and results. We greatly appreciate that they are following CDC’s guidance.

Because of the expected increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases, we may not publicly announce each individual positive test but will be transparent about situations of public concern and overall numbers of positive cases that health officials report to UT Knoxville. In all cases, we will continue to work closely with local and state health officials to notify anyone who may have had close contact with a member of the campus community diagnosed with COVID-19.

Everyone is urged to practice strict social distancing and follow CDC guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19. I have significantly changed my own behaviors and ask that you rethink yours. It is hard to think about a different way of being in a community, but we can do this.

For more information about our response to this disease, as well as access to resources supporting our online transition, visit utk.edu/coronavirus.

Take care of yourselves and one another.

Donde Plowman

Chancellor