After Jim Schlossnagle shocked the world by leaving the Texas A&M baseball team to become the head coach of the Texas Longhorns not 24 hours after the Aggies came up short against the Tennessee Volunteers in the 2024 College World Series, the Aggies faced a massive hole in their program looking for a replacement.
Less than a week after Schlossnagle’s departure, hitting coach Michael Earley was named as his replacement, but one name that was reportedly brought up in the list of replacements was Volunteers head coach Tony Vitello, the very same man that took the national championship trophy from their hands in Omaha.
And now, just days removed from Vitello being announced as the newest manager of the San Francisco Giants, it seems that there was a legitimate chance of the Aggies naming Vitello as their replacement for “Schloss.”
Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello hits balls to his players as they warm up before the start of the NCAA college baseball Knoxville Regional against Wake Forest on June 2, 2025, in Knoxville, Tenn. / Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
On Saturday, the MLB’s San Francisco Giants announced Vitello as their new manager after firing Bob Melvin after two seasons. Wednesday afternoon, D1Baseball’s Kendall Rogers posted some notes on the timeline of Vitello joining the National League West team, which included some talks with the Maroon and White at one point.
In Rogers’ post on X, his notes reveal that Texas A&M previously showed interest in Vitello.
“Tony finally made a move after being courted by Texas A&M to some degree the past two summers,” Rogers wrote. “He was very committed to Tennessee but was an opportunity he could not turn down.”
This means that while Michael Earley was kept as the Aggie head coach after a very forgettable first season at the helm, Texas A&M athletic director Trev Alberts likely still had plans on at least asking about Vitello about the job, but it’s clear that Vitello continued to pledge his loyalty to the Vols and stayed in Knoxville, that is until the Giants came calling.
Vitello had held the head coaching job at Rocky Top since 2018, and led the team to their first NCAA Tournament in 14 years during the 2019 season, and made the College World Series two years later, before winning it against the Aggies three years later.
The Giants job will be the first major league-level job for the championship-winning coach, who also has experience in coaching at Arkansas, TCU, and his alma mater of Missouri.
The San Francisco Giants finished the 2025 MLB season split down the middle at .500 with an 81-81 record, just barely missing the postseason after finishing two games out of the final NL Wild Card spot.
Oh, what could have been for Texas A&M baseball.