Why Danny White Believes Everyone Owes Lady Vols Coach Kim Caldwell an Apology

Why Danny White thinks people should apologize to Lady Vols coach Kim Caldwell

Tennessee coach Kim Caldwell during the Lady Vols' media day held at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center in Knoxville on Oct. 22, 2025. | Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

There were many rumors and speculations ahead of Tony Vitello's official decision that linked Lady Vols basketball coach Kim Caldwell in the middle of some of the drama that came with this situation. This is something that was discussed when Danny White spoke to the media on Wednesday following the news that dropped detailing that Tony Vitello was set to be on his way out the door to the San Francisco Giants.

This called for the press conference, and it was only a matter of time that something about Kim Caldwell was brought up. Here is what the Tennessee Volunteers athletic director had to say about the situation, and why he believes that Tennessee fans and everyone else owes Kim Caldwell an apology.

Danny White on Why Kim Caldwell is Owed an Apology

Tennessee coach Kim Caldwell during practice after the Lady Vols' media day held at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center in Knoxville on Oct. 22, 2025. | Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"Yeah, sure. First I think we all should ask anybody that's participated, where did that rumor come from? Did anybody report that in here (media room)? So who reported it? Somebody had to make up something that's not true for it to become a rumor, right? So I think we should all collectively apologize to Kim Caldwell and our women's basketball program, because that's factually incorrect. Never happened. Our rev share numbers are consistent with the house settlement. Five percent for women's basketball, 15% for men's basketball, 75% for football, and five percent for other. With that other budget, which is $900,000, we distributed $750,000 to our baseball program. That is far from what we do for baseball, or for any sport. Like all the most competitive programs in the country, we participated in front-loading last spring. Baseball was a beneficiary of that. We are supporting baseball, I think, well, I know, at a higher level than anybody in America. We are full scholarships in baseball, all 34 spots. We were one of the first schools to sprint to that. I think we were the only school in the country that's also doing cost of attendance on top of that. That was about a $1,200,000 new investment this year that a sport like women's basketball wouldn't have gotten. And we do more with rev share, and with NIL packages for baseball on top of their rev share. So, I know what the competitive space is in the SEC and across the country, and I know our baseball program is extremely well equipped. Otherwise, we wouldn't be recruiting at the level we are."

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