Tony Vitello 'fired up' for the Josh Elander era to begin on Rocky Top

Tennessee hired a new baseball coach on Saturday and introduced him to the fanbase on Monday. Tony Vitello is headed to the major leagues and Josh Elander will step in and lead the program he helped build alongside his boss.

Volquest reached out to Vitello for a statement when the hire was made. The most successful skipper in program history had this to say about his former top-assistant coach.   

“What a great day for Vol Nation. The fans in 2021 were the biggest spark maybe in the history of the program. But what was going on behind the scenes was even more important. The support staff were putting in an intense amount of work building relationships and developing players. Coach Elander was a massive part of that and is the very best guy to lead and to keep stacking those bricks. 

Vols baseball has become a massive group effort. Synergy and consistency will be a huge X factors. 

It actually worked out well that Danny and his colleagues took a deep dive into who truly would be the best leader for this group. It gave Josh a platform to show why he was the most underrated college coach in the country. He’s the type of person that Vol nation, the administrators, and the players deserve. Fired up for all the above!”

Vitello will be introduced to his new fanbase in San Francisco later this week. The two worked together all eight years on Rocky Top and helped pave the way for the most successful stint of Tennessee baseball in program history – including the program’s first ever national championship in 2024.

“I want to be crystal clear, we’re all thrilled for Tony Vitello. What an amazing opportunity to do something that’s never been done before. His fingerprints will always be on this program,” Elander said of Vitello on Monday. “We made a lot of great memories. A lot of wins, a lot of running around on the road, a lot of dreaming to make this place something great. And I really believe our staff did that together. I’m so excited for you, man. I can’t wait to see you win a World Series. But thank you for taking a chance on me and showing me what it means to leave your soul in the game. I hope our players always feel that way as well.”