Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello linked to San Francisco Giants manager job

According to The Athletic‘s Andrew Baggarly, Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello could be a candidate for the San Francisco Giants manager job. San Francisco fired Bob Melvin on Monday, less than 24 hours from the conclusion of the 2025 season. Baggarly says Vitello and Giants President of Baseball Operations Buster Posey may have already met.

“Here’s one out-of-the-box name who fits the high-motor description: Tony Vitello, who transformed the University of Tennessee from a bottom-feeder in the Southeastern Conference into perhaps the brashest and most talented program in the country,” Baggarly said. “It’s possible that Vitello and Posey have already spoken; both were at Coors Field when the Giants played a three-game series against the Rockies earlier this month.”

Vitello does not possess any experience in MLB, hence the “out-of-the-box name” designation. His coaching career began in a college summer league before Missouri hired him to be an assistant coach in 2003. TCU and Arkansas then had Vitello on staff before Tennessee hired him to be the program’s head coach in 2018.

Since then, nothing but success has come on Rocky Top. Tennessee made the NCAA Tournament in 2019 for the first time under Vitello, breaking a 14-year drought. Results continued to get better from there, first making the College World Series in 2021. Two years later, Tennessee won the national championship with a 60-13 overall record.

As for why Vitello was at Coors Field to see the Giants play the Colorado Rockies, former Tennessee pitcher Chase Dollander took the mound for the home team. Dollander was the ninth overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft after a successful college career in Knoxville.

More on San Francisco Giants, recent history

One of the prouder organizations out there, the Giants find themselves on the outside looking in once again this season. An 81-81 record did not meet the standards required to qualify for the playoffs, falling 12.0 games back of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West and 2.0 games back for the final NL Wild Card spot, earned by the Cincinnati Reds.

To find the franchise’s last playoff appearance, you have to go back to 2021. A series win in the postseason sends you even further back to the 2014 World Series over the Kansas City Royals. There was a Wild Card win in 2016 when it was a one-game format.

Posey saw himself be a key figure when San Francisco won three World Series titles in six years as the starting catcher. Now in the front office, his goal is to get the club back to winning ways. Searching for a new manager starts the journey, potentially looking at Vitello.