Danny White -VP & Director of Athletics - University of Central Florida

Danny White, Vice President and Director of Athletics for the University of Central Florida, has leaned on the experience and guidance of his father his entire life. His dad, who worked in sports from the ground level up, highly stressed the I over E - the Intellect over Emotion. Danny has found that in directing athletic programs, if you can focus on productivity and positivity, you can accomplish so much more. Elimination of drama allows for decision-making on a much more effective level. He advises using the same approach that coaches use when working with the athletes, telling your team to not get too high on the highs nor two low on the lows. In a world where competition and emotions can run high, he tries to keep his staff on target and focused on staying even-keeled. When Danny was at Ole Miss, he rolled out a campaign to help Ole Miss become more competitive in the SEC - the campaign was a huge success. That experience taught Danny that a university athletics program’s fan base, it’s community base, and it’s alumni base are open to rallying around aggressive and ambitious programs that can put them in the midst of a thriving athletics program. This edition of the Forty Under 40 Spotlight Podcast, featuring interviews with winners of Sports Business Journal's prestigious Forty Under 40 Award, is brought to you by Turnkey Search.