Through his first year as the San Francisco Giants’ top baseball executive, Buster Posey has defined his tenure with decisive staff changes and headline-grabbing roster moves.

He appears poised to make his boldest move yet.

According to a report published by The Athletic earlier today, Posey and the Giants are ‘closing in’ on hiring Tennessee Volunteers’ head coach Tony Vitello as the next manager of the club.

Vitello, 47, has never coached in professional baseball but brings a sterling résumé from the collegiate ranks.

Since he was hired by Tennessee in 2018, Vitello has turned the Volunteers into one of the preeminent programs in college baseball over eight seasons in Knoxville.

Highlighted by a national championship in 2024, Vitello has guided the Volunteers to three College World Series appearances since 2021 and two Southeastern Conference titles (2022, 2024). He was named National Coach of the Year in 2024.

For years, the Giants have made their admiration for Tony Vitello’s Tennessee program clear. Under Posey, they drafted infielder Gavin Kilen in the first round and later added Drew Gilbert and Blade Tidwell in a trade with the Mets. They also selected Maui Ahuna in 2023. All four came through Vitello’s system in Knoxville.

Vitello began to surface as a potential candidate shortly after the Giants parted ways with Bob Melvin, with team insider Andrew Baggarly among those to mention him as a name to watch.

Posey met with the media again a few days after moving on from Melvin. At the time, the headline from that conference was Posey electing to extinguish any possibility of the Giants returning to franchise icon Bruce Bochy as manager.

Buster Posey put an end to the speculation about Bruce Bochy returning as Giants manager (via @PavlovicNBCS)

Read more here: https://t.co/QZDpSeX73J pic.twitter.com/H2i5LqYe29

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) October 1, 2025

During that press conference, speculation grew that the Giants could turn to the college ranks for their next manager. Posey didn’t dismiss the idea, intensifying buzz around Vitello and other top college coaches as legitimate contenders.

As speculation increased, Vitello was asked by local media in Knoxville about his potential candidacy.

“You hear it and it’s flattering. Basically, it is a compliment to our support staff and our players. … That is what I consider it — a compliment,” Vitello told the Knoxville News Sentinel on Oct. 4.

Should Tony Vitello become the Giants’ next manager — with an announcement possible within the next 24 hours, according to Jeff Passan and Pete Thamel of ESPN — it would mark a move largely without precedence.

The natural comparisons can and will be drawn to Milwaukee Brewers’ manager Pat Murphy, who led a successful program at Arizona State from 1995-2009 and guided Milwaukee to the NLCS this season.

Murphy, though, had extensive professional experience before taking over as Brewers manager in 2024. He spent several years managing in the San Diego Padres minor league system and served as Milwaukee’s bench coach from 2016 to 2023.

Former Giants catcher and Posey teammate Nick Hundley was once considered the front-runner for the position, but his candidacy has cooled amid reports that he has withdrawn from the race.

Hundley, who also caught for the San Diego Padres from 2008 to 2014, could be a favorite for that opening now that Mike Shildt has retired. Former Baltimore Orioles manager Brandon Hyde, a Santa Rosa native who led Baltimore to 101 wins in 2023, has also interviewed for the position.

One of the early favorites for the Giants’ opening, Skip Schumaker, was recently named the next manager of the Texas Rangers, replacing Bruce Bochy and removing his name from consideration. There are currently five teams — the Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Angels, Giants, San Diego Padres, and Atlanta Braves — with active managerial openings, but only one, San Francisco, has been reported to be seriously considering a current college head coach.

There’s no modern precedent for a college head coach jumping straight into a Major League manager’s chair. If it happens, it wouldn’t just be the boldest move of Posey’s tenure — it would rank among the boldest in recent MLB memory.

Speculation around Vitello and the Giants has inched toward near certainty, signaling an executive in Posey who is willing to embrace bold, unconventional moves to compete in the National League West and return San Francisco to the postseason for the first time since 2021.