You mad, bro? ADs square off on Friday
White brothers say urgency not same as for coaches — but a win’s a win.
There will be no high-stakes wager
BOCA RATON — between the Florida Atlantic and Central Florida athletic directors when the Owls and Knights face off on Friday night.
Who needs a steak dinner when beating your brother’s team is a reward in itself ?
“You always want to beat your brother,” FAU athletic director
Brian White said Tuesday. “I have zero mixed emotions. You love your brother, but you don’t want to lose to your brother.” N ot only is Friday’s game
between FAU (2-1) and No. 16
UCF (2-0) a battle between two of the nation’s top Group of Five programs, but it’s a family battle between Brian and older brother
Danny, the Knights’ AD since 2015.
“It’s a little bit awkward competing against your brother,” Danny told The Post. “I want him to win every game that he’s a part of, and we want to win every game that we’re a part of, so that part won’t be enjoyable for us.”
The youngest son of Duke athletic director Kevin White, Brian was hired in March as FAU’s sixth full-time AD. Danny previously served as SUNY Buffalo’s athletic direc- tor from 2012-15 before taking the same position at UCF.
Brian and Danny are two of four children, all of whom are affiliated with Division I schools. Older brother Mike White has been Florida’s men’s basketball coach since 2015 and previously coached Louisiana Tech from 2011-15, guiding the Bulldogs to a 10140 record and two C-USA regular-season titles. Their sister, Mariah Chappell, is the assistant athletic director at SMU.
Though they’re both look- ing forward to Friday’s game, neither Brian nor Danny view the game as a one-on-one battle.
“As athletic directors, we spend so much of our time fundraising and trying to advance our athletic departments,” Danny said. “So whether it’s my brother or any of my friends that are sitting in the AD chair across the country, we don’t really look at each other as competitors against one another. It’s not like we’re recruiting actively against each other the way our coaches are. In head-to-head competition, we’re not the ones calling the plays and determining that day who’s gonna come out the winner.”
Added Brian: “We really don’t talk about the game too much. I’ll see him before the game, probably not at all during, and not much after. You try to separate church and state there.”
Friday isn’t the first time FAU and UCF have faced each other on the field since Brian was hired in March. The schools’ baseball teams split a home-and-home series in May, and FAU’s softball team dropped a 2-1 game to UCF on April 17.
But football is different. Friday’s game is nationally televised (7 p.m., ESPN) and is the first time the two teams have met since the Central Florida won 33-29 in 2003. FAU has won 13 of its last 14 games, however, and the Knights, three years removed from going 0-12, are riding a 15-game winning streak dating back to last year.
“There’s a lot of similarities between UCF and FAU,” Danny said. “I think both athletic departments have a ton of potential. I just wish there was a way where both teams can win, but that’s just not how sport works.”
Brian and Danny aren’t the only ones with pre-ex- isting ties involved in Friday’s game. The 200 miles between Boca Raton and Orlando mean there are plenty of other connections between the two teams.
Both FAU senior left tackle Reggie Bain and Knights linebacker Eric Mitchell went to Miami Central. FAU has several players from the Orlando area, and the Knights have recruited heavily in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
“I’m sure there’s a lot of different connections there between our team and their team,” Brian said. “It’s a cool opportunity for them to be able to go on that stage, and it’s great for our student-athlete experience.”
The two teams are scheduled to square off again next year. UCF will travel to Boca Raton on Sept. 7, 2019, for FAU’s home opener.
“Luckily, we’re not coaching or competing,” Danny said. “We’ll just be miserable somewhere in the stadium.”