Giants name Tennessee's Vitello manager, gambling on a college coach with no professional experience

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The San Francisco Giants hired University of Tennessee coach Tony Vitello as their manager on Wednesday for his first job in professional baseball.

San Francisco president of baseball operations Buster Posey made an unprecedented gamble on a coach with no previous experience in the pros. The 47-year-old Vitello will make the jump after spending his entire career in the college ranks.

“Tony is one of the brightest, most innovative and most respected coaches in college baseball today,” Posey said. “Throughout our search, Tony's leadership, competitiveness and commitment to developing players stood out.”

Posey said the Giants look forward to the energy and direction Vitello brings, given that his passion for baseball aligns with the club's values.

“I'm incredibly honored and grateful for this opportunity,” Vitello said in the Giants' announcement. “I'm excited to lead this group of players and represent the San Francisco Giants. I can't wait to get started and work to establish a culture that makes Giants' faithful proud.”

Vitello guided the Volunteers to regular success in the Southeastern Conference since being hired in June 2017. That included leading the program to its first NCAA title last year to go with six regional appearances, five NCAA super regional berths and three College World Series trips.

He has had 10 players from Tennessee selected in the first round and 52 Vols overall in MLB's amateur draft. Among those is Giants outfielder Drew Gilbert.

Seeking a new voice and direction after the Giants missed the playoffs for a fourth straight year, Posey said he wouldn't rule out anyone in his search for a leader with what he called an “obsessive” work ethic and attention to detail.

Posey had also considered his former backup catcher Nick Hundley, who has been working as a special assistant to Texas Rangers general manager Chris Young.

Instead, Posey is taking a route once tapped by the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys with Miami Hurricanes coach Jimmy Johnson in 1989. That worked out with Johnson winning two Super Bowl championships in 1992 and 1993 during a Hall of Fame career.

Posey is striving for stability at manager after so much turnover for the franchise in recent years, including Posey taking over as president of baseball operations last fall when Farhan Zaidi was fired.

The Giants dismissed manager Bob Melvin after two years, and Posey quickly ruled out longtime Giants skipper Bruce Bochy as an option to replace him once Bochy parted ways with Texas following a three-year managerial stint.

San Francisco finished 81-81 for one more victory than in Melvin’s first year. They haven’t reached the postseason since winning the NL West with a franchise-record 107 victories to edge the rival Dodgers by one game in 2021 under skipper Gabe Kapler.

Longtime executive Harry Dalton thought the jump to MLB manager would be too big at once, so he hired Arizona State coach Bobby Winkles as a coach on the Angels' staff for the 1972 season under Del Rice. Winkles then replaced Rice as manager in 1973.

Two Hall of Famers who managed in the big leagues were college coaches.

Hughie Jennings was player-coach at St. Bonaventure from 1894-97, then managed the Detroit Tigers from 1907-20 and the Giants in 1924-25.

Casey Stengel coached the University of Mississippi in 1914 before being hired for his fist big league managing job with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1934.

In Vitello, the Giants will have a colorful and brash manager.

The NCAA suspended Vitello twice during his Tennessee tenure, first for spending too much time arguing a call in 2018. During that two-game suspension, he raised money for charity with a pizza and lemonade stand while the Vols played.

Chest-bumping an umpire in 2022 led to a four-game suspension, and Vitello spent that time working with a Tennessee fraternity offering a chest bump to anyone donating $2 to the Wounded Warriors Project.

Vitello is no stranger to Northern California. In 2002, he was associate head coach of the Salinas Packers in the California Collegiate League. The team went 50-14 and reached the National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita, Kansas.

He played three seasons at Missouri as an infielder and began his coaching career there before stints with TCU and Arkansas, the latter as hitting coach.

A native of St. Louis, Vitello went 341–131 at Tennessee. In his second season in 2019, he led the Vols to their first NCAA berth since 2005. Vitello then led the Vols to their first national title in baseball, winning the 2024 College World Series.

Tennessee has reached the College World Series three times with Vitello. He has two SEC regular-season titles and a pair of SEC Tournament titles, the last in 2024. Tennessee is finishing up an expansion and renovation of its baseball stadium to meet interest in the program.

Vitello was earning $3 million a year and signed a five-year extension in 2024 that includes a $3 million buyout.

Tennessee athletic director Danny White congratulated Vitello on the job and said university officials were focused on players and the coaching staff in an “evolving process” while they finalize the next steps to replace him.

“We are committed to continuously investing in the program at a championship level across all areas,” White said. “Furthermore, the upcoming $109 million renovation of Lindsey Nelson Stadium will transform it into one of the premier baseball venues.”