A college baseball head coach with no pro experience getting a shot as a Major League Baseball manager sounds strange because it doesn\u2019t happen, but if ever there were a college coach perfectly suited to make that jump, it would be \u2026<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not sure, actually. But if someone did the research and ranked all of today\u2019s prominent college coaches in terms of MLB fit, Tony Vitello would have a strong case for last place.<\/p>\n
Tony Vitello \u2014 Tennessee\u2019s intense, eccentric, hilarious national championship coach \u2014 to the San Francisco Giants<\/a>? College baseball wasn\u2019t sure how to take this guy a few years ago when his teams started beating everybody in their path \u2014 all while taunting bat-inspecting umpires, wearing fur coats and running the bases with middle fingers extended.<\/p>\n Vols baseball was like Happy Gilmore, luring chest painters to pro golf events and offending traditionalists. Vitello might be a bit excessive for the Carolina League, too. And now he\u2019s in The Show? Tony Vitello? Tony the Tiger and Dick Vitale would have been just as believable before Giants president Buster Posey made this a serious pursuit.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s serious, and real, and compelling. Posey got his guy, a devastating loss for Tennessee. And a major win for people who like fun with their sports. It could be a win for the Giants. It\u2019s absolutely unconventional and a risk. It\u2019s also going to make that franchise, and its press availabilities, much more interesting to the world at large.<\/p>\n It will be fascinating to see if the 47-year-old Vitello\u2019s ability to connect with young people \u2014 to make them willing to brawl for him, each other and maybe just for the heck of it \u2014 can translate to a pro clubhouse with a wider range of ages.<\/p>\n It will be fascinating to see if he\u2019ll have the same clubhouse intensity or needs to scale it back a bit. The snarling and barking, seemingly every time he thinks his pitcher caught the corner or the opposing pitcher didn\u2019t, sounds exhausting when projected over 162 games.<\/p>\n Auburn walked another run in the 5th after a check-swing call that lit Tony Vitello on fire.<\/p>\n The head coach was ejected after yelling at every umpire. #Vols<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/ARkJgcnEQ1<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Emilie Rae Cochrane (@EmCochranetv) May 4, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n All the talking that takes place in the course of a major league season sounds promising. Vitello will fill up the notebooks. He\u2019s got jokes and movie references, sure, but he\u2019s also a really interesting person who can talk about things other than baseball.<\/p>\n If he wins and has staying power, Vitello could be one of the game\u2019s colorful personalities. Think Billy Martin crossed with Yogi Berra. I\u2019m not promising any Lee Elia rants, but I did once watch Vitello open a news conference with a seven-minute statement that included commentary on what a great patriot Noah Webster was, because Vitello was angry that someone had asked one of his players if the season could be defined as a success only if it ended in the College World Series.<\/p>\n That team got there and won it, by the way. When the title-clinching win over Texas A&M was over, I was not able to keep up with Vitello as he sprinted down the left field line, vaulted himself off the tarp into a throng of Tennessee fans and did some crowd surfing. He later compared the moment to a rock star jumping off stage. Which prompted my hard-hitting question: Which rock star?<\/p>\n Tony Vitello just did a full on crowd surf in the stands in left field. Sadly this video starts seconds after Vols fans pushed him back onto the field. pic.twitter.com\/q9gOrI7LL8<\/a><\/p>\n