Tony Vitello will leave the Tennessee baseball program to become manager of the San Francisco Giants, according to multiple reports.
The Athletic, The Knoxville News Sentinel and ESPN are among the outlets reporting the news Wednesday afternoon, after several days of speculation concerning Vitello’s next move.
The 47-year-old Vitello will become the first college coach to jump directly into a manager’s role on the Major League Baseball level. He’ll try to pump life into a Giants franchise that has not produced a team with a winning record or playoff appearance in the last four seasons.
Vitello will replace Bob Melvin, who guided San Francisco to an 81-81 mark this year.
A St. Louis native, Vitello steered the Vols to unprecedented success during his eight seasons in Knoxville.
He led the program to its first ever national championship in 2024 and guided Tennessee to six NCAA regional appearances, five NCAA super regionals and three College World Series appearances.
The Vols in 2024 became the first SEC team to ever win 60 games in a season, finishing with a 60-13 record. UT became just the fourth program in history to win the SEC regular season crown, the SEC tournament title and the national championship in the same year.
Vitello posted a 341-131 record in his eight seasons leading Tennessee, including a 125-85 record in SEC play.
Tennessee has had 52 players drafted since 2018 when Vitello took over as head coach, averaging 6.5 picks per year. Since 2021, the Vols’ 42 total draft selections lead the nation.