Skip to main content
Join Now
Get a profile. Be recruited.

Report: Tony Vitello targeted twice by Texas A&M before Giants move

IMG_0985by: Griffin McVeigh10/22/25griffin_mcveigh
Tony-Vitello-calls-Tennessee-being-run-ruled-SEC-Tournament-karma-after-previously-calling-rule-stupid
Tennessee baseball head coach Tony Vitello before a NCAA baseball game between the Tennessee Volunteers and Florida Gators at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., on Friday, March 14, 2025. | © Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Tony Vitello is out as the Tennessee head coach and not just for any job. He is making the jump to MLB, getting hired to be the next manager of the San Francisco Giants. In a storyline that continued on for a few days, Vitello finally made the decision on Wednesday.

As it turns out, the Giants were not the only ones attempting to hire Vitello. The Texas A&M Aggies and athletic director Trev Alberts reportedly made two runs at poaching Vitello away over the past couple of summers. Kendall Rogers of D1 Baseball revealed as such.

“Tony finally made a move after being courted by Texas A&M to some degree the past two summers,” Rogers said via X. “He was very committed to Tennessee, but was an opp(ortunity) he could not turn down.”

Going back to the summer of 2024, Texas A&M needed a head coach after Jim Schlossnagle infamously left for Texas. The Aggies eventually landed on Michael Early, somebody who was on the previous staff, and was initially going to Austin as well. His first season in charge resulted in a 30-26 overall record and 11-19 in the SEC before missing the NCAA Tournament.

Rumors swirled about Early’s future in College Station, even after just one year. Apparently, Texas A&M was looking to replace him with Vitello. As we can now tell, nothing came together and Vitello remained loyal to Tennessee on the college level.

More on Tony Vitello, time with Tennessee

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.

AD Tony White now holds a coaching search of his own. Vitello turned Tennessee into an attractive destination in the college baseball world, proving the mountaintop can be achieved. You have to imagine plenty of people out there will be interested in being the one to replace Vitello.