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Just two years ago, there was very little optimism around the Tennessee Athletic Department.

The football team was coming off a three-win season, firing their coach and opening up an investigation into the program in the process. Phillip Fulmer, the Athletic Director at the time, was forced to retire.

On the men’s basketball side, the Vols were blown out by Oregon State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament despite having two five-star recruits in Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer. The women’s basketball team made it one round further but finished with a disappointing loss to Michigan in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Even the softball program, which had been so dominant in the early and mid 2000’s, failed to advance out of their own Regional.

The program needed a spark, and UT Chancellor Donde Plowman hired Danny White in hopes of doing just that.

Now, just two years later, the Vols are on the verge of completing an academic year that has not been accomplished by any school in 25 years.

Start with football as the 2024 team is currently going through summer workouts, trying to follow up an 11-2 season. The Vols beat Florida for the first time since 2016, Alabama for the first time since 2006 and then took down Clemson in the Orange Bowl for their first New Year’s Six Bowl win since a Cotton Bowl win in 2004.

On the basketball side, both the men’s and women’s teams are coming off Sweet Sixteen appearances. The men’s team went to work in the transfer portal and return Josiah-Jordan James and Santiago Vescovi. The women did the same as they kept Rickea Jackson and Tamari Key, while also adding talented players from the transfer portal.

And in the spring, the Lady Vols softball team returned to relevancy as they finished the year 51-10, won the SEC Regular Season and Tournament Titles and finished third at the College World Series. The baseball team meanwhile gets set to begin their College World Series on Saturday at 7 p.m.

As a program, Tennessee became the only school since 1998 to win a New Year’s Six Bowl, advance to the Sweet Sixteen in men’s and women’s basketball and advance to the College World Series in softball and baseball in the same academic year. And that’s just scratching the surface as both tennis teams reached the Super Regionals and top seven finishes for both swimming and diving teams.

So, what happened?

In simple terms, Danny White happened. White entered the picture in December of 2020 as the new Athletic Director, replacing Fulmer and all the baggage he left behind. White immediately was dealt with the task of hiring a football coach. At UCF before coming to Tennessee, White chose his head old football coach, Josh Heupel, to rejuvenate a Tennessee program that was at the bottom of the barrel.

With football out of the way, White then focused on the department as a whole as he looked to find a permanent fix. The right coaches were in place in Rick Barnes, Kellie Harper, Karen Weekly and Tony Vitello. They just needed support, something White provided.

And finally, White set out to make the athletic department one big happy family. To put in perspective how that is going, the football team was holding a camp this past weekend during Tennessee’s Super Regional Games against Southern Miss. The Tennessee football coaches were adamant that the Graduate Assistants keep them updated on the baseball score because of how invested they have become in all sports in the Tennessee Athletic Department.

More examples of that family environment consist of Vitello being on the field at just about every home football game this season and courtside at most men’s basketball games with his Zakai Zeigler jersey not far behind him, Harper being seen about to pass out at football games from cheering, the men’s basketball team pumping up the crowd at baseball games and so much more.

For Tennessee, that’s what they have been missing. A sense of camaraderie. That everyone has one goal in mind: to put Tennessee back on the map.

While the present is going well, the future is always unpredictable. However, with White in charge, it’s safe to assume the future looks bright.