When Danny White was announced as the University of Tennessee’s athletic director on Jan. 21, 2021, his first objectives were to hire a new football coach and navigate that program through an NCAA investigation.
White’s first significant personnel change occurred last year, when he fired Kellie Harper as women’s basketball coach and replaced her with Kim Caldwell.
The Volunteers were humming along in men’s basketball under the direction of Rick Barnes when White arrived, so that aspect of his job was and continues to be rather simple. If nothing is broken, then nothing needs to be fixed.
“I love working with Rick Barnes,” White said in a news conference this past Thursday night before the Tri-Cities Big Orange Caravan stop. “He’s a great leader who is overseeing the most successful run in our men’s basketball history. I love everything about how he runs his program.
“I’ve spent zero time worrying about our men’s basketball program.”