Tennessee has hired former Auburn athletics director Allen Greene, whom UT AD Danny White invited to seek “greener pastures” than The Plains in a social media post that raised eyebrows around the SEC.
A year later, those greener pastures led Greene to the Big Orange.
“I had an opportunity, and he was going to be my first call until he told me no. And he didn’t tell me no,” White told Knox News on Thursday. “So I couldn’t be more excited that he’s coming. It’ll be great for Tennessee and great for Allen and his family, too.”
Greene, 46, will serve as senior deputy athletics director. He replaces Monica Lebron, whose departure was announced by White in an internal email to UT head coaches and his executive team and obtained by Knox News on Monday.
White and Greene have a long professional history. White previously hired Greene in stints together at Ole Miss (2009-12) and Buffalo (2012-15). That relationship was the backdrop of White’s eye-opening social media post about Greene’s exit from Auburn.
What Danny White tweeted when Greene left Auburn
When Greene stepped down as Auburn AD in August 2022, White showed his support with a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Congratulations @AGreeneIV for getting the heck out of a crazy situation for greener pastures!” White posted. “I admire how you managed that chaos with class & integrity. Look forward to seeing your next chapter!”
That next chapter was Ole Miss, where Greene spent the past year as senior deputy AD of external relations and business development and chief operating officer.
White said he didn’t know Greene ultimately would come to Tennessee when he tweeted his support.
“It just sort of happened,” White said.
Greene helped build White’s philosophy
In 2009, White hired Greene at Ole Miss.
White was a senior associate AD and executive director of the Ole Miss athletics foundation. Greene was an assistant AD for development in the foundation.
In 2012, White was named Buffalo’s AD, and he brought Greene with him as a senior associate AD and deputy athletics director.
When White left to become UCF’s AD in 2015, Greene succeeded him as Buffalo AD. That fast-tracked Greene to the SEC, where he served as Auburn AD from 2018-22. When Greene stepped down at Auburn, White forecasted better things ahead for him.
“With Allen’s experience – being a two-stop AD and helping form my philosophy on how to build a championship culture – his leadership is really going to elevate us to being the best athletics department in the country,” White said.
“Starting at Ole Miss, we built an innovative revenue model, which is used at several places, including Tennessee. And when I was learning how to be an AD on the fly at Buffalo, Allen was right by my side.”
Greene could be coveted for AD jobs, and White likes that
Greene has been an AD at two different schools, and he has strong ties in the SEC. That could make him a candidate for other AD jobs when they come open.
White knows that’s a possibility, and he’s OK with it.
“I want a team full of people that, if they want to be ADs, I want to nurture that career growth,” White told Knox News. “I want Tennessee to be the type of place where people feel like they can achieve their career goals from here.
“That can be assistant coaches leaving here to become head coaches, and we’ve seen a healthy amount of that here over the last couple of years. And I fully expect members of our executive team, and not just Allen, to be candidates for AD positions. They should be.”
Greene has paycheck from George Steinbrenner
Before Greene was a college administrator, he was an elite college baseball player and ninth-round draft pick of the New York Yankees.
Greene was a star switch-hitting outfielder at Notre Dame. In 1998, he had a .317 batting average, seven home runs, 44 RBI, 53 runs scored and 12 stolen bases as a leadoff hitter. He was the 277th overall pick in the MLB Draft by the Yankees.
“He still has his first paycheck, signed by Steinbrenner,” White said. “I’ve seen it in his office.”
Greene earned his Notre Dame degree in finance. He received his master’s degree from Indiana University’s South Bend campus. He and his wife, Christy, have three children, daughters Rian and Seneca, and a son Samuel.
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
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