Nike's swoosh is one of the most recognizable logos in the world. The vast majority of people choose the check mark over the three stripes and hundreds of other brands on a daily basis.
Tennessee's athletic department isn't your everyday customer, though. It's a lucrative business that companies are typically thrilled to partner with because of how UT's fan base consistently buys up a good product.
Yet Nike didn't want Tennessee.
Adidas did.
As a result, Danny White's administration announced Wednesday a 10-year deal with Adidas to become Tennessee's new apparel partner. The deal will begin July 1, 2026. It's believed to be one of the most lucrative apparel deals in college athletics.
It doesn't make much sense why Nike didn't want to continue to work with Tennessee. Nike prioritizes television ratings and merchandise sales, amongst other things. It's two areas the Vols routinely rank towards the top of the country in. They also rank at the top in attendance. Not just in football, but across the board.
A total of 1,234,843 fans attended Tennessee's 41 regular season home games during the 2024-25 calendar for football and men's and women's basketball. UT hosted 99,000 more fans than second-place Michigan. Only six schools — the other four were Ohio State, LSU, South Carolina and Texas — eclipsed one million fans in cumulative home attendance.
That doesn't even include Tennessee's national-championship winning baseball program. Tony Vitello has created one of the hottest brands in his sport. As have other programs on campus such as softball.
The point being that Tennessee is constantly featured at the forefront of college athletics, and with it, Nike's swoosh.
Yet Nike chose to prioritize new deals with schools such as Auburn, who jumped ship from UnderArmour this summer. When Tennessee was contractually obligated to take Adidas' offer to Nike, the check mark scoffed at the thought of prioritizing the Vols the way the three stripes is planning to do.
Nike forced White's hand. Why would Tennessee's athletic director stick with an apparel partner that disrespected the weight of the 'Power T?' White would have been a fool to stick with Nike. Especially in a day and age where every single penny matters in college athletics more than ever.
Maybe Tennessee doesn't change apparel providers if Nike was willing to come close to Adidas' offer. But Nike didn't. The brand may have forced White to make a move, but he'll happily take Adidas' hand in marriage.
Adidas is going to prioritize Tennessee as much as any athletic department in the country. It's already said as much. More importantly, their actions are already backing it up as well.
Tennessee's press release Wednesday stated that Adidas is currently working to land NIL deals with UT student-athletes. Not for when the deal begins. For the upcoming 2025-26 school year.
The release added that once the partnership begins, every student-athlete will be eligible to participate in Adidas' NIL Ambassador Network, "which gives all student-athletes at Adidas-partnered Division I schools the chance to benefit from their Name, Image and Likeness."
These opportunities for Tennessee were never going to exist with Nike.
I can already hear multiple people claiming that there will be recruits turned off by Adidas. Let me ask those people this: if Nike is so powerful, why is Miami and Texas A&M — two Adidas schools — consistently towards the top of the recruiting rankings? It seems to me that highly-ranked recruits care more about the money they can make instead of the apparel logo on their gear.
Why did Tristen Keys, a five-star high school recruit Tennessee is trying to flip from LSU, sign with Adidas if the brand is such a turn off? Adidas also recently signed Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola and Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft after a year at Miami.
Like most of us, recruits will wear the brand that pays the most.
There are areas in which Adidas will need to be better at in this second marriage with Tennessee. The uniforms simply did not look good on far too many occasions the first time around. Producing the right shade of orange, chief among them.
It would be a shock if Tennessee had issues with its uniforms this time around. White would not have agreed to this deal if he felt uncomfortable with the product Adidas is going to produce. UT's creative team will be the lead voice of uniform design and there will be better leadership involved from both sides.
Tennessee's uniforms aren't going to change much anyways. UT features a simple look to begin with. There doesn't need to be an extravagant design to the uniform. Just get the shade of orange correct. Likely the only difference — or at least the most noticeable change — from the Nike uniforms will be the swapping of logos.
Most would like to see the Nike check remain on Tennessee's uniforms. There's nothing wrong with that. Emotions should not cloud the fact that this is a massive win for the Vols, however.
This is the type of move that helps an athletic department get over the hump and win more national championships. It was a no-brainer for UT's administration in this new era of college athletics.