Danny White has been Tennessee’s athletic director for five years, and the Lady Vols have yet to make it beyond the Sweet 16.

Not only have the Lady Vols not made progress under White’s leadership, the program is actually trending in the wrong direction. The Lady Vols suffered some of the worst losses in program history this season. And head coach Kim Caldwell has dealt with several off the court distractions.

For a program with the history of the Lady Vols — and for an athletic director who likes to claim that Tennessee is an everything school — this is unacceptable.

White, though, voiced his support for Caldwell earlier this week, indicating that he doesn’t plan on making a change despite Tennessee’s rough season.

“I think she’s doing a great job,” said White on WNML’s SportsTalk. “I’m as confident in her as I was the day I hired her. More confident, [after] just getting a chance to work closely with her and see how talented she is as a basketball mind and as a leader.

“This season has not met anyone’s expectations — most importantly, and most of all, hers. She’s incredibly competitive. Not surprised to see the narrative around it, both positive and negative. We have, I think, the most passionate fan base in the country, and a storied women’s basketball program that we are working really hard to get back. And that is not an easy proposition, and we didn’t expect it to be.”

There’s a solution that would be a win-win for everyone involved with the Lady Vols

I don’t think the results this season fully represent who Caldwell is as a head coach. She’s dealing with some tough situations at a high level of basketball for the first time in her career. Like all coaches, she’ll grow as a result of the adversity.

But at the same time, the job seems a little big for Caldwell — at least at this point in her career. And the Lady Vols program isn’t a program where coaches should be learning on the job. This is a destination job, after all.

White, however, clearly doesn’t want to make a change, even though that would probably be best for the program at this point.

Firing Caldwell after two seasons would be a public declaration by White that he made the wrong hire. I get it. He wants it to work.

But so far, it’s not working.

A solution that would leave everyone looking like a winner would be Caldwell quietly landing a job elsewhere and leaving Tennessee on her own terms. It could be a nice reset for Caldwell’s career outside of the pressure cooker of the Knoxville media. And who knows, maybe down the road she develops into one of the best coaches in the sport. I’m not writing Caldwell off as a coach, I’m just not sure this job at this time is the right fit.

Caldwell leaving on her own accord — similar to Cuonzo Martin leaving Tennessee for California in 2014 — would essentially give White a mulligan.

White could then go spend big and bring a proven winner to Rocky Top — which is what the Lady Vols program deserves.

It would be a win-win situation for everyone. Will it actually happen? I’m doubtful, but you never know in the crazy world of college basketball.

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