Report: San Francisco Giants 'closing in' on hiring Tennessee's Tony Vitello

Tennessee Baseball could be in the market for a new head coach. The Athletic on Saturday afternoon reported the San Francisco Giants are “closing in” on hiring Tony Vitello away Tennessee.

When asked if he had agreed to become the next manager of the Giants, Vitello told Volquest “I haven’t.”

A Tennessee spokesman issued no comment when reached out to by Volquest Saturday afternoon.

Vitello was first linked to the job weeks ago when it became open by The Athletic. ESPN also was early to link Vitello to San Francisco. Former Vol superstar and fan favorite, Drew Gilbert, spent the last month and a half with the Giants on the big-league roster.

If the coach leaves Tennessee, Vitello’s separation pay from Tennessee would be $3 million as he would leave before June 30, 2026. He was once the highest paid coach in college baseball, singing a five-year extension in August of 2024 worth $3 million annually.  

Vitello going from college straight to the big leagues could to be a first in Major League Baseball, if the deal is finalized.

Dick Howser went straight from Florida State in 1979 to manage the New York Yankees in 1980, but he previously served as the bench coach in New York for nine seasons and was even named interim manager for one game in 1978 before taking the job at his alma mater the next year.

Pat Murphy is the current manager of the Milwaukee Brewers. He coached at Notre Dame from 1988-1994 and then for Arizona State from 1995-2009 before moving up to professional baseball as a coach in the San Diego Padres organization from 2010-2015. He served as interim manager to conclude the 2015 season before moving on to the Brewers organization as bench coach for eight seasons before being named skipper ahead of the 2024 season.    

Ahead of this potential move, Vitello has never played or coached in affiliated baseball. He played at Missouri from 2000-2002. He coached collegiate summer baseball in 2002 before spending eight years on staff at his alma mater. Vitello then coached at TCU from 2011-2013 and at Arkansas from 2014-2017 before accepting his first head coaching opportunity at Tennessee in the summer of 2017.  

Vitello logged a 341-131 record while at Tennessee in eight seasons at the helm. He leaves Tennessee as the third-winningest head coach in program history, behind Rod Delmonico (699-396 in 18 seasons) and Bill Wright (408, 308-2 in 19 seasons). His .722 winning percentage is the best in school history.

Under Vitello’s leadership, Tennessee baseball secured the first national championship in program history in 2024 and made three trips to the College World Series in total. Tennessee amassed five-straight super regional appearances from 2021-2025 and made the postseason tournament in six of the seven seasons there was postseason play (2020 no tournament due to COVID) during his stint.     

Vitello won the Southeastern Conference regular season twice (2022, 2024), the conference tournament twice (2022, 2024) and the SEC Eastern Division three times (2021, 2022, 2024) before the conference shifted away from divisions prior to the 2025 campaign.

The skipper was named SEC Coach of the Year in 2022 and was a two-time Perfect Game Coach of the Year (2021, 2022). Vitello also reeled in Coach of the Year honors from the NCBWA (2021) and ABCA (2024).  

During the banner season in 2024, Tennessee became the first No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Baseball Tournament to win the College World Series since Miami accomplished the feat in 1999. The Vols were also just the fourth No. 1 overall seed to reach the Finals series. The Vols’ 60 wins were the most of any program since Florida State in 2022 and the most of any national champion since Wichita State back in 1989.