UCF’s White Signs New Five-Year Contract

Dr. Daniel J. White, vice president and director of athletics at UCF, has signed a new five-year contract--with an annual one-year rollover clause--to continue in those roles. White's tenure has featured unprecedented success in competition, the classroom and the community since he took over the Knights' programs late in 2015.
 
"Danny has excelled at building a nationally recognized athletics program where our student-athletes are thriving academically and in competition," UCF interim president Thad Seymour Jr. said. "The Knights are one of the most exciting teams in the nation, and I can't wait to see what our student-athletes and coaches accomplish under Danny's leadership in the years ahead."
 
"As much pride as we take in what UCF athletics has been able to accomplish the last few years, in so many ways we have just scratched the surface of our potential," said White. "I'm thrilled that we will be able to continue progressing towards our goal of making UCF a perennial top-25 athletics program.
 
"I couldn't be more committed to building UCF for the long term--and I am humbled to be able to lead such a talented group of coaches, staff, and student-athletes who make it all happen. I'd like to thank our interim president, Thad Seymour, for his leadership and unwavering support, as well as our many generous donors and sponsors who share our ambitious vision and are bringing it to fruition.
 
"Knight Nation, our future is as bright as the Florida sunshine--we're all gonna need shades!"
 
Highlighted by a combined 35-4 record over the last three seasons, UCF's football production includes a record 25-game win streak through the 2018 regular season, a second straight American Athletic Conference title-game victory that same year and a second consecutive New Year's Six bowl appearance. Josh Heupel's squad, in his first year as head coach, finished eighth in the final 2018 College Football Playoff standings. In 2019 the Knights ended 10-3 and 24th in the final polls after a Gasparilla Bowl win over Marshall.
 
In 2018-19 both the UCF men's and women's basketball squads merited NCAA Championship invitations—with Johnny Dawkins' men's team defeating VCU and then nearly upsetting number-one seed Duke in the second round.
 
CBS Sports ranked the Knights' 2018-19 across-the-board athletic performance 17th best in the country. UCF currently stands 29th in the 2019-20 Learfield IMG Sports Division I College Directors' Cup all-sports competition sponsored by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. UCF was the only NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision program that had each of its sports produce winning records (among the 10 Knights sports with win-loss records) in both 2017-18 and 2018-19—and that trend has continued so far in 2019-20.
 
UCF's football program went from winless in 2015 to six victories and a bowl game appearance in 2016, White's first full year in Orlando. The Knights improved even more in 2017, finishing the season as the only undefeated team in the nation and claiming a national championship. UCF ended 13-0 in that 2017 season, capping the incredible year with a 34-27 victory over seventh-ranked Auburn in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
 
White's departmental successes have earned him numerous awards--as a Sports Business Journal 40 Under 40 winner in multiple years, a spot on the Orlando Business Journal 40 Under 40 list, multiple selections as one of the 50 Most Powerful People in Orlando by Orlando Magazine and a finalist for the 2018 SBJ Athletics Director of the Year honor. He was also named a NACDA Under Armour Athletics Director of the Year in the spring of 2019. In 2018 SBJ named him one of the six most influential people in sports business, while Orlando Magazine tabbed him as the area's most powerful person in sports.
 
White already has seen numerous game-changing gift commitments made to UCF athletics—as the Knights in fiscal year 2019 produced record numbers of gifts received and overall commitments. The $31.7 million in 2019 commitments nearly doubled the previous year's figure and is nearly four times what UCF raised just three years earlier.
 
Since he was hired White has combined with his championship resources and facilities staffs to create virtually a complete makeover of the UCF athletics footprint. As part of creation of the Kenneth G. Dixon Athletics Village, White has overseen a renovation of the UCF baseball complex that became John Euliano Park and the addition of Garvy Nutrition Center, a nutrition center for student-athletes. Nearing completion is Roth Athletics Center, an athletics administration building that will include new team space for men's and women's soccer and expanded football team and operational space.
 
Since White's arrival the Knights also have made major improvements to the football game day locker room and opened a redone multi-sport weight room. Future plans include an upgrade to UCF's primary football facility to include an expanded south entry atrium, plus interior renovations and upgrades. Also planned is an on-campus tennis practice facility and a basketball excellence center which will be part of an overhaul of UCF's volleyball venue.
 
Under White's leadership UCF captured the imagination of the college sports world in establishing its unique relationship with Walt Disney World Resort that provides annual access to Disney for all Knights' student-athletes—as well as plans for McNamara Cove, a combined aquatic recovery facility, lazy river and pool adjacent to Spectrum Stadium that will double as a year-round hospitality venue.
 
Other highlights in White's initial years at UCF include the athletics department bringing its multimedia rights and corporate partnerships inhouse and an extended and improved apparel and shoe agreement with Nike. UCF also has sold naming rights both for its football field and basketball court. The Knights in 2019 for the first time sold out their allotment of football season tickets at Spectrum Stadium, creating a waiting list and prompting potential stadium expansion plans.
 
In the classroom, UCF teams have combined for 24 consecutive semesters (through the 2019 fall semester) with a 3.0 grade-point average or better. A UCF-record 253 Knights earned spots on the 2019 AAC All-Academic Team. A perfect 1000 score for the UCF women's tennis team led the way in another impressive performance by Knights athletic squads in the 2019 NCAA Academic Progress Rate data. The women's tennis program achieved a 1000 multi-year score for the eighth straight year, joining the Knights' football team (987) in also earning NCAA Public Recognition Awards for ranking in the top 10 percent of APR for their sports. In addition, Knight student-athletes continue to set annual records for community service involvement in the greater Orlando area, in great part through various UCF student-athlete welfare and development programs.
 
White served as director of athletics at the State University of New York at Buffalo from May 2012 through December 2015. During his tenure in Buffalo, White worked with athletics administrators, coaches and staff to transform the Bulls' program and culture, shattering previous school records for student-athlete GPAs, NCAA Championship berths, fundraising and football ticket sales.
 
The former college basketball player and New Orleans native previously was senior associate athletics director at the University of Mississippi from 2009-12. He also served two years as associate athletics director for development at California State University-Fresno (2007-09) and one as assistant athletics director for development at Northern Illinois University (2006-07).
 
He played college basketball at Towson University and the University of Notre Dame and was director of operations and assistant coach for one season each with the Ohio University men's basketball team. White is a 2002 graduate of the University of Notre Dame. He earned two master's degrees from Ohio University and completed a doctorate degree at from the University of Mississippi in 2016.