‘Very similar to the Nico situation’ – Tennessee AD Danny White drops strong statement on Vols’ most frustrating offseason development
Tennessee Vols athletic director Danny White didn’t hold back on one of the most frustrating developments of the offseason for the UT football program.
There’s a lot of nonsense in college football right now, but I don’t think there’s anything quite as silly as the suspension of Tennessee Vols linebacker Arion Carter.
Carter will be suspended for the Vols’ season opener against Furman due to a $427 plane ticket (which he repaid) that was purchased by an agent when the linebacker was going through the NFL draft process last December.
The Tennessee native declared for the 2026 NFL Draft, but he decided to return to UT for his senior season after it was determined he needed surgery (which was going to keep him from participating in pre-draft events).
Carter was initially suspended for three games before it was reduced to two games and then eventually one game.
Vols AD Danny White shares some thoughts on the Arion Carter situation
Tennessee athletic director Danny White joined WNML’s SportsTalk on Wednesday and he shared some thoughts on Carter’s suspension.
White compared the situation to when the NCAA opened an investigation in early 2024 into former Volunteers quarterback Nico Iamaleava’s recruitment/NIL deal.
“It’s just silly,” said White. “It’s a waste of time. You get 12 opportunities, and Arion’s going to lose one of them for absolutely no logical reason. This is very similar to the issue we had with the NCAA with the Nico situation — acting like NIL can’t be a part of recruiting conversations when every single kid in the country would obviously want to know what their NIL opportunities are as part of the decision of where they want to go to school.
“In Arion’s case, having a flight paid for that he paid back when you’ve got student athletes around the country making seven figures in Rev Share and NIL, it just doesn’t make any sense. I wish the NCAA would evolve more rapidly. This is an entirely different world. And on campus, we understand that and we’re dealing with it. It’s very challenging because our industry is not pivoting to a CBA as fast as it needs to. I think this is another example of them missing the boat by a long shot. It’s very disappointing.”
It’s interesting that White brought up Iamaleava because when the news of Carter’s suspension first broke, I immediately felt like it was a situation where the NCAA was going after Tennessee because of the Iamaleava investigation.
The NCAA failed in their attempt to take Tennessee down over the Iamaleava investigation when a judge in Tennessee granted an injunction that prohibits the NCAA from enforcing rules that prevent boosters/collectives from negotiating with recruits.
The Carter suspension is petty and ridiculous. No one who thinks logically feels that he should be suspended.
It’s going to be hard to convince me that the NCAA didn’t suspend Carter as “payback” for losing the Nico battle to Tennessee.
