Vanderbilt fans won't like what Tennessee Vols AD Danny White had to say about Nashville

Vanderbilt Commodores fans won't appreciate what Tennessee Vols athletic director Danny White had to say on Tuesday during UT's Big Orange Caravan stop in Nashville.

White was asked by reporters about Tennessee reestablishing its footprint in the Nashville area over the last several years.

And White made it clear that Tennessee wants to plant its "big orange flag" in Nashville anytime they get a chance.

“I hope it’s gotten a lot better," said White. "I hear about, you know, back in the day. And y’all hear me talk a lot about when we were the best version of ourselves and how do we get this brand back to the top of college sports. And Nashville was really orange. And I think it’s a lot more orange than it was a few years ago, but I think we got a lot more work to do . It’s an important market for us, it’s a growing market, as is Knoxville and the whole state of Tennessee. But we’re gonna be very intentional about putting our big orange flag in Nashville every time we get an opportunity and that’s what today is all about.”

White obviously wants Nashville to be orange, despite the fact that it's home to another SEC program in Vanderbilt.

And the reason is because of the number of Tennessee graduates in the area and the amount of talented student-athletes in the mid-state area (student athletes that Tennessee needs to bring to Knoxville...across all sports).

“It’s because of the population growth, there’s a growing amount of talented young student athletes (in the Nashville area)," explained White. "There’s a growing alumni base for us. Our university is exploding in terms of applications and as a result we’re putting out more graduates and a lot of them are right here in the mid-state. So it’ll always be a priority for us."

Nashville turns orange every time the Vols play a football game in the city. White, however, wants that to be the case every day of the year.

Related: Former Georgia OL Amarius Mims says a former Tennessee Vols defender was the toughest player he had to block in 2023