‘Rise Glorious’: Danny White Maps Out Five Year Tennessee Athletics Strategic Plan

The Rise Glorious project from the University of Tennessee’s Athletic department has officially been announced by Tennessee athletic director Danny White on Thursday.

The plan is a comprehensive five-year strategic plan from Tennessee Athletics with the mission of leading “the way forward in all aspects of college sports.” The vision of the project is to “deliver an unparalleled student-athlete experience fueled by the relentless pursuit of comprehensive excellence; be bold and innovative in our approach to recruiting and developing well-rounded graduates, championship-driven competitors and world-changing leaders.”

Tennessee and Athletic Director White have formed a plan revolving around five “priorities” for the program: Student-athlete success, culture, resources, brand advancement & messaging, and competitive excellence.

“Rise Glorious serves as a very clear roadmap for accomplishing Tennessee Athletics’ mission of leading the way in college sports,” AD Danny White said via UT Sports. “This plan outlines why Tennessee Athletics exists and how we must approach each day in order to attain all of our specific goals for the next five years. It establishes standards we all must live by—staff, coaches, student-athletes, campus community and fans alike—as we restore Tennessee Athletics to the front of the pack.”

See Also from RTI: Analyzing the Most Ambitious Aspects to Danny White and Tennessee’s Athletic Plan

The following information was originally posted by Tennessee Athletics on Thursday morning and can be found here.

Student-Athlete Success

Goal: We will maximize the transformative power of the student-athlete experience by leveraging the impact of sport to holistically develop our student-athletes and empowering each of them to succeed in educational and competitive endeavors while preparing them for life beyond athletics.

• Objective 1.1: Holistically develop each student-athlete, preparing them to thrive in an athletic department where everyone matters and belongs.
• Objective 1.2: Honor the foundation of college sports by maximizing the educational journey of each student-athlete and creating championship-level performance expectations academically.
• Objective 1.3: Maximize student-athlete performance through championship-level coaching, physical development, injury prevention, rehabilitation, recovery, mental health support and use of cutting-edge technology.
• Objective 1.4: Prepare student-athletes for life beyond sport.

Culture

Goal: We will attract goal-driven and intensely competitive teammates to strengthen our family-oriented, innovative and fearless culture as Tennessee Athletics is a career destination.

• Objective 1.1: Create and sustain a welcoming, supportive and inclusive environment.
• Objective 1.2: Aggressively invest resources into the growth and development of our team.
• Objective 1.3: Actively engage, embrace and communicate with all constituents across Tennessee Athletics

Resources

Goal: We will aggressively build our resource base to empower our coaches and student-athletes to compete at the highest levels by engaging all stakeholders and capitalizing on the passion and power of Vol Nation.

• Objective 1.1: Set, grow, optimize and utilize our financial resources to compete for championships.
• Objective 1.2: Boldly commit to enhancing facilities and infrastructure to remain at the forefront of college sports.

Brand Advancement & Messaging

Goal: We will strengthen meaningful connections to the athletics program and modernize the way we tell the Volunteer story nationally and globally through the Power of the T.

• Objective 1.1: Create a cohesive, bold visual identity and a clear messaging strategy.
• Objective 1.2: Connect and engage with a new generation to grow the brand, while embracing the rich tradition of Tennessee.
• Objective 1.3: Empower, educate and unify athletic department staff and the Tennessee community on all brand and messaging standards.

Competitive Excellence

Goal: We will cultivate a championship culture that propels Tennessee to compete for SEC and national championships.

• Objective 1.1: Earn the top Learfield Directors’ Cup finish among SEC schools and finish in the top 15 in three out of every five years while consistently winning SEC and national championships across the board.
• Objective 1.2: Consistently win National Championships
  • Strategy: Tennessee will win a national championship in at least one sport every four years; and each sport will
    achieve at least one national top-16 finish every four years.
• Objective 1.3: Consistently win conference championships and finish in the top third of the conference standings annually (all sports).
  • Strategy: Each sport will win a conference championship at least once every five years; Tennessee Athletics aims to capture five conference championships in one academic year while averaging at least three conference championships per year over the next five years.

According to Tennessee’s announcement, “Tennessee Athletics’ Rise Glorious Strategic Plan for 2022-27 was completed in May 2022.”