photo credit: Craven Whitlow
Smash That “Follow” Button
There’s a historical phenomenon in politics known as the “October surprise,” where a big news story tends to break and have a major impact on the ensuing November election.
From forged letters about Chinese immigration and rum-related scandals in the 1800s to modern examples like WikiLeaks and the Access Hollywood tapes, there always seems to be a shakeup when Halloween is on the horizon.
This year, SEC baseball had a pair of October surprises of its own break on Wednesday afternoon. Florida baseball coach Kevin O’Sullivan will be taking a leave of absence to deal with “personal and family issues,” and it is unclear whether or not he will return in time for the start of the season.
More notable, however, was the groundbreaking news that Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello was heading to the big leagues to manage the San Francisco Giants.
Vitello took over a dormant program and turned the Volunteers into a powerhouse during his eight years in charge, winning 72% of his games, reaching the College World Series three times and bringing home a national title in 2024, an honor that still manages to elude Arkansas.
The 47-year-old had served as a Razorback assistant from 2014-17 under Dave Van Horn, who can now add an MLB manager to his extensive coaching tree.
Hitting coach Josh Elander, another former Arkansas assistant, was considered the favorite to be named the interim head coach, but Tennessee athletics director Danny White decided to give that tag to veteran pitching coach Frank Anderson. The 66-year-old served under Vitello for his entire tenure in Knoxville, producing a whopping 29 MLB arms along the way.
Vitello becomes the first coach to go straight from college to the MLB without prior experience at the professional level. What is precedented, however, is the potential path Vitello could follow to fulfill the dreams of many Arkansas baseball fans.
Cue the Succession theme music.
Patience, Arkansas Fans
A tall task awaits Vitello upon arrival in the Bay Area. The Giants parted ways with manager Bob Melvin after a .500 campaign saw them miss the postseason this year. Meanwhile, their Golden State rivals in the NL West had terrific seasons. The San Diego Padres, Eric Musselman’s favorite ballclub, won 90 games in the regular season, and the juggernaut Los Angeles Dodgers have advanced to yet another World Series behind two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani.
USAToday’s Bob Nightengale called Vitello’s hiring a “massive gamble” from the Giants front office that “has all the makings of an unmitigated disaster.”
That would play right into the hands of Razorback fans with eyes on the future. Van Horn is now eligible for Medicare after turning 65 last month, and while he says he’s still got some gas left in the tank, most folks recognize that the end of his 23-year tenure is likely coming soon.
It’s only natural to start speculating on who could get the baton from DVH. Pitching coach Matt Hobbs and Georgia head coach Wes Johnson (another former Arkansas assistant) will be in the conversation, but Vitello is by far the most popular and most decorated option.
The average stint for an MLB manager is just 3.1 years, and a potentially rough time with the Giants would make a return to the college level the most logical option for Vitello. That timeline also conveniently lines up with when Van Horn is likely to ride into the sunset. The Head Hog’s current contract runs through 2031, when he will be 71 years old, but he could decide to hang it up before then.
Look no further than Arkansas basketball coach John Calipari for a precedent on that pathway. Coach Cal took a swing at testing his mettle in the NBA after building UMass into a juggernaut in the 1990s. He was fired midway through his third season in charge with the New Jersey Nets, compiling an unremarkable 72-112 record. After two years as an assistant with the Philadelphia 76ers, he returned to the college level to take the head coaching job at Memphis.
Of course, the major holdup in a potential Vitello reunion would be having to move between SEC rivals, which would have been provocative and resulted in many Tennessee fans despising him. Enter Rick Pitino and Nick Saban.
Pitino wedged a four-year stint with the Boston Celtics in between head coaching stints at archrivals Kentucky (1989-97) and Louisville (2001-17). Saban sandwiched two pedestrian years with the Miami Dolphins between his wildly successful tenures with LSU (2000-04) and Alabama (2007-23).
Pitino and Saban’s legacies with Kentucky and LSU are complicated, but there’s not nearly as much bad blood as there would have been with a direct move to their rival schools. The professional cushions between jobs and goodwill they had built up at the previous school helped soften that blow.
I will always respect someone leaving a place better than they found it.
Less stress managing in MLB, I get it, but let’s be honest, this is the best way to soften the blow to Tennessee fans when he ultimately takes the Arkansas job when DVH retires https://t.co/jj2PY0rXKK
— Ben Upton (@Ben_Upton5) October 18, 2025
A few years out west in the MLB with a soft landing in Fayetteville could do the same for Vitello and Tennessee.
Implications for SEC Baseball
Vitello taking the San Francisco job must feel like a gut punch for Tennessee fans, and some college baseball enjoyers may feel that getting the sport’s best young coach poached by the big leagues hurts the game. But, as the unprecedented nature of this move shows, it’s a sign of how much college baseball has grown in the last decade or so.
It’s easy to want to dunk on Tennessee fans for losing their coach. The Volunteers get a lot of fun poked at them for their facilities being a level below the SEC’s traditional powers, and White has caught some flak for Tennessee allocating less revenue sharing funds to baseball than “Arkansas and some others” do.
Wait he took less money???? HAHAHAHAHA
Luckily the fanbase that just discovered baseball a couple years ago will forget it again in no time https://t.co/1GBs5woVGZ
— Big Pig Aidsap (@aidsapev) October 22, 2025
But Vitello reportedly turned down multiple approaches from Texas A&M the last two summers and “was very committed to Tennessee,” so much so that he went well past the Giants’ decision deadline before announcing his move. Vitello is an ambitious guy who accomplished everything at the college level before his 50th birthday. Becoming the first in his sport to make the professional jump was an appealing opportunity.
The Vols’ path forward is complicated after the 2026 season, and it remains to be seen if they can build upon the foundation Vitello laid. As one Tennessee message board user put it, “If the new guy isn’t as sexy as Tony, Danny is cooked with the ladies.” Judging by the early list of potential candidates, things will be just fine on Rocky Top.
As for Vitello, his last game at the college level (for now) ended up being a Super Regional loss at Baum-Walker Stadium. Here’s to hoping he can make his grand return in the same location.
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Arkansas basketball coach John Calipari provides another precedent for Vitello. Coach Cal took a swing at testing his mettle in the NBA after building UMass into a juggernaut in the 1990s. He was fired midway through his third season in charge with the New Jersey Nets, compiling an unremarkable 72-112 record. After two years as an assistant with the Philadelphia 76ers, he returned to the college level to take the head coaching job at Memphis.
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More coverage of Arkansas baseball and Tony Vitello from BoAS…