Tennessee’s new athletic director doesn’t appear to be interested in making friends with the program’s Third Saturday in October rivals.

Danny White, formerly at UCF, held his first press conference as the Tennessee AD on Friday. White was asked about UCF’s claim to the 2017 national championship, which was won by Alabama in the College Football Playoff, and the critical response from SEC fans. White maintained that there were multiple national champions that season.

“There was more than one national champion that year, and I look forward to a better postseason,” White said. “I think everybody knows that, and I think we’re on the right track toward getting it, and I think it’s gonna be awesome for college football. It’s gonna be awesome for Tennessee, it’ll be awesome for all of college football and for the student-athletes that compete and participate in it and should have the ability to settle it on the field.

“It’s kind of funny, I’m on the other side of that conversation now. I have been for a few hours now. If I had to do it all over again, I’d do the same thing. I think what those kids accomplished that year needed to be defended, and I felt like in the role that I was in, I needed to fight for them and what they had accomplished, which was phenomenal. An undefeated season is really tough to do. I’d do it again for any of our teams here. That’s just who I am. I believe in the student-athletes, and I believe in the true spirit of competition.”

We’ll see if White still considers the AAC a “Power 6” conference now that he is an SEC athletic director. Perhaps we’ll get a Tennessee and UCF home-and-home series before too long.