"That's a real problem": Tennessee AD Danny White puts collective bargaining on the table as he gets candid on massive struggle in college sports

University of Tennessee Athletics Director Danny White has advocated for collective bargaining in college sports. On Thursday, he sat down with Tennessee Chancellor Donde Plowman to discuss the industry and his success managing teams.

White admitted that he sometimes struggles to lead the university and be competitive in college sports. He pointed out that the NCAA's issue with NIL has affected his ability to make Tennessee successful in college sports, including football.

Danny White explained (Time stamp: 18:14):

"Our job is to lead the University of Tennessee, but we also have a national issue in college sports that's a real problem. I talk about the Tennessee hat vs. the college sports hat. I've probably been wearing the Tennessee hat a lot more recently."

The athletic director shared that collective bargaining is a solution he believes will help fix the NCAA's NIL issue. His method would allow the NCAA to pay student-athletes to compete under their guidelines created with a players' association.

"Thinking about what's our opportunity to be competitively excellent in this new world, but it's a real issue," White said (Time stamp: 18:37). "We could go on and on about what we need, but I'll say it. We've got a camera on us, I don't really care at this point. Collective bargaining is the only issue. It's the only solution."

U.S. President Donald Trump has considered creating a college sports commission to help regulate NIL opportunities for student-athletes. Former Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban was expected to be a commissioner for the proposed idea. However, Saban shared recently that he isn't sure a college sports commission is necessary to address NIL concerns.

As of now, the college sports commission isn't moving forward. The athletic director's advocacy of collective bargaining is another solution that the NCAA could consider to have a compromise on student-athlete compensation with guidelines.

Danny White shares how he plans to help the Tennessee Volunteers compete in college sports

Danny White shared that he is actively working on fixing the Tennessee budget to compete in college sports. He noted that the program thrived in the 90s when Tennessee had the best budget among other universities.

"Revenue is a part of it," White said (Time stamp: 7:04). "It's become more obvious to people now and the NIL era, but it's always been the case. The schools with the biggest budgets and with the biggest operating budgets, the best facilities have always won at the highest level, and when Tennessee was the best version of itself, you heard me talk about this."

"In the 90s, we had a top two or three, if not number one, budget in the SEC, and we had the best facilities."

Tennessee's football team had many successful seasons during that era. The Volunteers' best season was in 1998, when they won the national championship. White's plan to improve the budget is encouraging for Tennessee fans ahead of the 2025 season.