The Tennessee Volunteers suffer another loss as baseball head coach Tony Vitello has officially left Knoxville to take over as the 40th manager for the San Francisco Giants. Vitello, 47, becomes the first collegiate coach to make the jump to Major League managership without any prior professional experience.
The Giants finished 2025 with an 81-81 record, firing former manager Bob Melvin at the conclusion of the season. Melvin finished his tenure in San Francisco with a 160-163 record over two seasons.
Per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, Vitello took a significant pay cut to manage the Giants. Nightengale wrote on Twitter, “Tony Vitello, who was earning $3.3 million annually with salary and benefits, will be taking a pay cut to manage the Giants in his new deal. The Giants also still owe fired Bob Melvin $4 million in 2026.”
Vitello revamped the Volunteers’ baseball program after a decade of below .500 baseball under Todd Raleigh and Dave Serrano, who amassed a 209-223 record combined. Hired in 2018, Vitello led the Volunteers to five straight Regionals from 2021-2025, three Super Regionals, and three College World Series, winning one in 2024.
Vitello also won two SEC Tournament and Regular Season championships each; in addition to multiple national and conference Coach of the Year honors.
Now, Vitello makes history as the first coach to transition from college to the MLB without any prior pro experience, and without any precedent that the experiment will work.
For more Alabama Baseball, Basketball, and Football content from Simon Besnoy, follow him on Twitter at @SimonBesnoy and stay tuned to Tide1009.com for daily news.
Alabama Smokes Tennessee in Bryant-Denny Stadium 37-20
Gallery Credit: Wyatt Fulton