Serious question about DW

[vol66]

Danny White comes from a long line of administrators in college sports, they make a living on the haves. I’m not saying he’s awful, but..he knows how to play the game…until he doesn’t…and he just met the road.

I know it’s just baseball. Who cares? All you had to do was keep him.

Do you want to have a brand new stadium, completely empty? Are the season ticket holders gonna be patient?

I doubt it. Oregon…don’t do it Danny.

 

[taylorvol]

Danny White comes from a long line of administrators in college sports, they make a living on the haves. I’m not saying he’s awful, but..he knows how to play the game…until he doesn’t…and he just met the road.

I know it’s just baseball. Who cares? All you had to do was keep him.

Do you want to have a brand new stadium, completely empty? Are the season ticket holders gonna be patient?

I doubt it. Oregon…don’t do it Danny.

As AD wouldn’t you make it a point to have previously met with the Associate Head Coach for your national championship winning baseball program? Especially one as esteemed as Elander who has been mentioned for several head coach openings? Danny first met Frank Anderson and Josh Elander last night per his presser.
It seems Danny’s forte is spreadsheets and not people. I bet he barely met with Coach Vitello. I remember Barnes remarking “well, he sure is a confident fellow” after meeting Danny for the first time. It wasn’t a compliment..
Naming Anderson as interim so Elander can focus on the interview? That makes zero sense to me and shows me the proverbial writing is on the wall.

 

[vol66]

As AD wouldn’t you make it a point to have previously met with the Associate Head Coach for your national championship winning baseball program? Especially one as esteemed as Elander who has been mentioned for several head coach openings? Danny first met Frank Anderson and Josh Elander last night per his presser.
It seems Danny’s forte is spreadsheets and not people. I bet he barely met with Coach Vitello. I remember Barnes remarking “well, he sure is a confident fellow” after meeting Danny for the first time. It wasn’t a compliment..
Naming Anderson as interim so Elander can focus on the interview? That makes zero sense to me and shows me the proverbial writing is on the wall.

Change is always hard. It shouldn’t have happened but you own it now. This is yours, you own it Danny.

Big shoes to fill.

GBO!!

 

[taylorvol]

*Disclaimer: I LOVE Tennessee baseball. Just giving a dose of reality. DW is in charge of running the mega-business that is UT athletics. It's asinine to suggest that he should have offered TV millions of dollars more or diverted money from the Lady Vols. Either would be terrible business moves.

Maybe he should have formed a relationship with his NC winning Coach besides delegating a subordinate. The presser made it clear that DW is all about fundraising and spreadsheets but is missing the emotional intelligence gene. Heck, he just met Frank Anderson and Josh Elander for the first time by his own admission on Tuesday night. Danny has to work harder on developing relationships and several of the beat riders have implied as much.

 

[chuckiepoo]

Maybe he doesn't understand California taxes.

I’m absolutely positive Jimmy Sexton explained it, if he didn't understand …

 

[knoxvol52]

I’m absolutely positive Jimmy Sexton explained it, if he didn't understand …

Oakland is cheaper to live in and it's close to San Francisco...

 

[feathersax]

A lot of things one must buy is significantly higher in California. My niece lived out there for a couple of years - when gas was $3 here it was $6 there. Everything costs more.

Gas prices are the tip of the iceberg....income tax, property taxes & a slew of others. Tony's Ferrari will guzzle that premium gas (when he's not on road trips with the Giants).

 

[MadMaxSC]

There’s got to be more than just “the opportunity of a lifetime“ to be an MLB manager. His contract with UT was through June 2029 with potential bonuses. His salary with the Giants is a significant paycut when considering taxes.

Report: Tony Vitello Takes Major Pay Cut to Be San Francisco Giants Manager

The Tennessee Volunteers baseball program lost their head man in charge on Wednesday as the news released that Tony Vitello is off to the MLB for a manager job

www.si.com

If your life-long dream is to play or manage in the bigs, a few bucks doesn't matter.

Tennessee doesn't have a personal income tax but they sure pile it on with sales tax and all the other fees. I just made a 2-night hotel reservation and there was $48+ in taxes and fees. Every state is going to get their money, whether it is from income taxes or if they send Geno to break your kneecaps.

I am sure TV will be happy, taking on this new challenge. I wish him luck.

 

[Legion of Doom]

This is not a pile on post about DW. This is a serious question. Why do so many people feel like he is the best AD we have ever had? I’m not saying he is or isn’t just wondering why so many feel this way.

I think is a cheat and liar. He has already lied about the imaginary 75 thousand waiting list, when he sells 13K season tickets to ticket brokers to gauge the fans.

 

[Legion of Doom]

Maybe he should have formed a relationship with his NC winning Coach besides delegating a subordinate. The presser made it clear that DW is all about fundraising and spreadsheets but is missing the emotional intelligence gene. Heck, he just met Frank Anderson and Josh Elander for the first time by his own admission on Tuesday night. Danny has to work harder on developing relationships and several of the beat riders have implied as much.

Embarrassing how DW operates. He is a liar and is no good for the university. Plowman and Boyd need to look into a lot of this stuff. You can’t have leaders acting like DW.

 

[cardvolfan]

So, how would you define "significance?" Let's try TV viewership:

NCAA Volleyball Championship: 1.3-1.7M
NCAA Baseball Championship: 2.2-2.8M
NCAA Football Championship: 24-26M
NCAA Final Four/ Championship: 12-14M

Additionally, for regular season games, volleyball actually  surpassed baseball in many markets.

Volleyball has nowhere the significance nor audience as baseball in the state of Tennessee. You’re really stretching here. That’s not a knock on women’s sports in any way, shape, or form. It’s just how it is in Knoxville.

 

[kiddiedoc]

Volleyball has nowhere the significance nor audience as baseball in the state of Tennessee. You’re really stretching here. That’s not a knock on women’s sports in any way, shape, or form. It’s just how it is in Knoxville.

I never claimed that. I said baseball is closer to volleyball than it is to football or basketball. Look at the revenue, TV viewership, etc. It doesn't matter if the baseball revenue is $4M or truly rose to $9M in one year as the above graphic claims. It still lost money and the point remains.

 

[EezyE]

Everyone has at least one flaw. We saw an indication of one from White yesterday. Just judging by his comments, he doesn’t seem to value personal relationships with people in his organization. I found it interesting when he discussed not being chummy with people under him. I understand the line you have to have between being someone’s boss and buddy. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t have some form of a relationship with them on a personal level. Given the fact it took Tony 4 days to decide on taking an MLB managing job, if Danny had been more personable with Tony, he might have stayed. My assumption might be completely wrong, but that is my take on Danny White.

 

[EZE]

It is bad - I mean it helped where I enter when they changed the band route - but in the process they destroyed the tradition that had been there before he even set foot on campus. I don't know why they decided that was a good idea at all.

And leaving - well don't get me started on that - getting to a bus to go back downtown is a mess. It wasn't last year. You have the folks trying to get into the bus line walking with folks that just want to get to where they can cross the street - big mess on a sidewalk that wasn't meant to allow thousands of folks to do so quickly.

Who ever made these decisions have no idea how to effectively handle a crowd of folks entering or leaving the stadium.

Do you folks not understand that there will be disruptions while construction is happening…especially with 100k pouring through the little holes to get into the stadium?

This is becoming a kindergarten-level forum.

“Insufferable” is the word that comes to mind.

 

[#1HomeGrownUTVOL]

True but baseball was actually on the rise and part of that was the interest generated by coaches like TV.

We may end up having to drop the "everything" school motto.

Step back from the ledge, bro.

 

[drylo]

I never claimed that. I said baseball is closer to volleyball than it is to football or basketball. Look at the revenue, TV viewership, etc. It doesn't matter if the baseball revenue is $4M or truly rose to $9M in one year as the above graphic claims. It still lost money and the point remains.

*It still lost more money than volleyball

 

[WallyBalls]

As AD wouldn’t you make it a point to have previously met with the Associate Head Coach for your national championship winning baseball program? Especially one as esteemed as Elander who has been mentioned for several head coach openings? Danny first met Frank Anderson and Josh Elander last night per his presser.
It seems Danny’s forte is spreadsheets and not people. I bet he barely met with Coach Vitello. I remember Barnes remarking “well, he sure is a confident fellow” after meeting Danny for the first time. It wasn’t a compliment..
Naming Anderson as interim so Elander can focus on the interview? That makes zero sense to me and shows me the proverbial writing is on the wall.

Said a similar thing in another thread. Not having that knowledge of your high performing assistants is...maybe not quite alarming...but at least downright ODD.

I'm not saying DW and Elander, Coach Chop, Barnes' top guy, Weekly's top assistant, all need to have a weekly poker night where they smoke and talk about women all night...but just from an organizational standpoint you'd think he'd have at least some passing, functional knowledge of who those guys are if they are risers.

I work in one of the most hilariously staid, slow, and semi-backwards world of billion dollar government contractors and even our C-suite guys do that. They can't tell you much about them, but if someone said "Hey, Director Bob Smith is leaving Program X." they'd be able to go "Project X....isn't Joe Snuffy the 2nd down there? That's our guy."

 

[TennesseeFan07]

Because he is a great evaluator of coaching talent and does great for fundraising money for athletics.

He is also a self-righteous, tone-deaf bum.

 

[ATLVols]

Danny White has been the best AD in recent memory. All athletic programs are competing for championships, money coming in, and facilities being built. Before losing Tony Vitello to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with major league baseball, DW’s resume with us was looking almost perfect. This is the first major hit.

Danny has not been here long enough to say if he is the best or not. How he answers this new challenge with baseball will be a big part of his legacy picture as well. Honestly, when the Rick Barnes basketball era eventually comes to a close, every AD is measured on how they handle those as well. Time will tell. But let’s not forget how great things have been going to this point compared to where we were not long ago.

 

[TNinSC]

AD's in past 25 years:

• Danny White (2021-present)
• Phillip Fulmer (2017-21)
• John Currie (2017)
• Dave Hart (2011-16)
• Joan Cronan (2011)
• Mike Hamilton (2003-10)

Who do you think has done the most for the athletic programs from this list?

 

[joevols89]

AD's in past 25 years:

• Danny White (2021-present)
• Phillip Fulmer (2017-21)
• John Currie (2017)
• Dave Hart (2011-16)
• Joan Cronan (2011)
• Mike Hamilton (2003-10)

Who do you think has done the most for the athletic programs from this list?

Looks like it’s John Currie. Hired a national championship winning coach an gave us Schiano Sunday.

 

[taylorvol]

Baseball was closer to $9M in 2024. Baseball is 3rd in Rev with LV Basketball 4th.

View attachment 783895

I know it’s an eye chart, so to make it simple: LV basketball lost over ($7M) and baseball lost ($3.7M). Baseball rev at $9.6M was a bit inflated by some big donors committing ~$5M that I’m not sure will be repeatable since CTV left. Some of that rev will be offset by the new suites and higher ticket prices. Expect LV to have great season with increased ticket sales.

 

[taylorvol]

Do you folks not understand that there will be disruptions while construction is happening…especially with 100k pouring through the little holes to get into the stadium?

This is becoming a kindergarten-level forum.

“Insufferable” is the word that comes to mind.

Do you think the renovation of LNS should take 3 years for completion? I think it wasn’t prioritized or managed correctly. Miss St completely demolished their stadium and had it completely finished on time and under budget in 19 months. They played all games at the stadium during the renovation. LNS is way over budget and will be 2 years past the original due date. Something is amiss….

 

[joevols89]

Do you think the renovation of LNS should take 3 years for completion? I think it wasn’t prioritized or managed correctly. Miss St completely demolished their stadium and had it completely finished on time and under budget in 19 months. They played all games at the stadium during the renovation. LNS is way over budget and will be 2 years past the original due date. Something is amiss….

The construction delays suck for sure but I think the bigger issue for Tony was it took forever just to get them to commit to it. Way longer than it should. Prominent boosters had to pressure Danny to get it done.

 

[Baseball25]

DW is a butt hole