The San Francisco Giants are reportedly going outside the box and then some for their manager hire. The franchise is reportedly closing in on Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello as their next skipper, according to The Athletic.
The 47-year-old head coach has spent seven seasons with the Volunteers, leading the team to a College World Series championship in 2024. Vitello has never appeared in the major leagues or even minor leagues in any capacity, but has been one of the top coaches in college baseball.
Vitello would be replacing Bob Melvin, who was fired following the Giants’ 81-81 season in which the team failed to make the playoffs.
Vitello did not comment directly on The Athletic’s report, with the outlet saying that he said, “There is nothing to confirm,” when reached via text message.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan confirmed that Vitello has been a top target for the Giants, and reported that any decision on the hire is expected to come in the next day or so. Per Passan, the buyout on Vitello’s contract with Tennessee is $3 million.
After a series of assistant coaching stints at Missouri, TCU and Arkansas, Vitello took over the Volunteers’ baseball program in 2018 and completely turned it around. Within a year, he led the Vols back to the playoffs for the first time in 14 years, and they have made the College World Series three times since (2021, 2023 and 2024).
The team had two highly decorated seasons in 2022 and 2024, winning both the SEC regular-season title and the SEC tournament both years. The Volunteers’ 2024 championship was the first in school history, and the team’s first World Series final appearance since 1951.
With that said, Vitello would be an unexpected hire for the Giants given his lack of experience in the pros. Vitello has never held any coaching role in MLB, and unlike many managers, he didn’t even play in the majors as he went straight from college baseball into coaching.
The eyebrow-raising move is in line with the bold arrival of Buster Posey, who was hired by the Giants last fall as the president of baseball operations. In his introductory press conference last fall, Posey described the team as in “a memory-making business,” and has spoken about baseball on a very macro level. With this manager hire, Posey has a chance to make a big statement — and if things work out with Vitello, it certainly would be.
While it’s not unheard of for MLB teams to hire former college coaches as managers, those coaches typically have some major-league experience before getting tapped. Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy, for example, spent years as a head coach at Notre Dame and Arizona, but spent more than a decade as a coach in the San Diego Padres and Brewers organizations before being promoted to manager.
If the Giants do hire Vitello, the coach will be reunited with a couple of his former Tennessee players: San Francisco’s first-round draft pick in 2025 was second baseman Gavin Kilen, while former Volunteers and 2022 draft picks Drew Gilbert and Blade Tidwell were both acquired by the Giants ahead of the July trade deadline.
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