The relationship between former Tennessee Vols baseball coach Tony Vitello and UT athletic director Danny White has been under the spotlight this week amid Vitello’s decision to leave Rocky Top for the San Francisco Giants.

Some folks have suggested that the relationship between the two wasn’t the best.

On3’s Chris Low, for example, hinted at disharmony between the two on Thursday during an appearance on WNML’s Josh and Swain.

“I think over the last couple years, if you’re inside and sort of know what’s going on, this probably wasn’t just a complete surprise to a lot of people — certainly [people] close to the program — that there had not been what I would call the best relationships between Tony and Danny White, the Tennessee AD,” said Low. “And I think when you combine all of it — I don’t think it was just one thing — but when you combine all of it, what happened yesterday, happened.

“I think as people sort of think back through (the Vitello era) it now, and what it was like, there’s a lot of sadness. I know, Danny White said it was a proud day. I disagree. It was a sad day, because I don’t think this had to happen. I think there was a way for this not to happen, and it happened.”

I don’t think anyone that uses logic believes that Vitello left Tennessee because of White (it’s the big leagues!). But perhaps a stronger relationship between the two would’ve led to things playing out differently.

Should fans be worried about Tennessee athletic director Danny White?

Thanks to the Vitello and White drama, there are some fans who now seem to be “out” on White at Tennessee.

I don’t think that’s necessarily fair.

White has done a lot of great things at Tennessee. And it’s not like he ignored baseball (Lindsey Nelson Stadium continues to have money poured into it). From my view, this is just two adults that didn’t connect on a personal level. That’s life. It happens…a lot.

Vols basketball coach Rick Barnes is similar to Vitello in the fact that he wasn’t hired by White.

Which is why I think Barnes’ strong endorsement of White on Friday was important.

“The bottom line is he had a chance to leave the University of Tennessee and go to the San Francisco Giants,” said Barnes of Vitello’s departure. “It’s not like he’s going to another university. That’d be something that I think you could talk about, but the fact is, I can tell you from my position, being here on this campus and the administration that we have here from Randy Boyd to Donde Plowman and to Danny White, it’s the best in the country. It’s not even close. I’ve never seen people aligned like they are. And I do know this, Danny has given every one of us what we need to compete at the highest level to give us a chance to play for the national championships in our sport. And if he hasn’t done it, I can assure you he’s trying to do it.

“With that said, because I did hear that people jumped on Danny about it, I just know how hard he’s worked to try to put us where we need to be. I do know this university, this program — and when you’re in a position where you have to make decisions that affect people’s wallet, when you talk about raising prices and this and that — I mean, he knows what’s going on. And does he want to do it? I can only tell you that people that had seats, I feel them saying, we signed a deal where I was supposed to be able to do this forever. I don’t know if it was a passed down deal, grandfather deal, but all the people that were there, and I’ve had a lot of people come up to me and ask me about it, what can I do? I can’t do anything. And I know this, Danny would do anything he can. But with that said, when you walk down in the arena today and see what they’ve done underneath to provide the kind of amenities that he felt that people should get when they pay the money they pay, the upgrades and all that. I just know it’s a tough job. I mean, it’s a tough job.”

Leading an entire athletic department is a tough job. And I’m sure White, like everyone in life, doesn’t nail it every single day. But it’s clear that he’s been a net positive for Tennessee athletics since he was hired in early 2021. (Tennessee, fair or not, was a punch line when White was hired.)

I’m sure there are things White can work on (after listening to his press conference about Vitello this week, it’s clear he could stand to improve his people skills). But the last thing Tennessee needs right now is internal drama.

Vitello was quick to publicly praise White earlier this summer, regardless of what was going on behind the scenes between the two. I think that’s a reminder that not everything that happens behind the scenes in a successful program is smiles and laughs. Sometimes, tough conversations and disagreements happen.

That just means you have real humans that care running the show. And that’s not a bad thing.

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