Tennessee athletic director Danny White has hired plenty of coaches in a multitude of sports during his career. So, I can understand why he would have been confident he could hire a competent baseball coach to replace Tony Vitello.
But I wondered if he might overthink his next hire after Vitello left the Vols to become manager of the San Francisco Giants.
Give him credit for not overlooking the obvious. He got input. And he hired the coach the people closest to the program wanted.
I wasn’t optimistic about the process when White announced Oct. 22 that pitching coach Frank Anderson — who had no interest in becoming UT’s head coach — would serve as interim coach while the search for Vitello’s replacement began.
But the search was swift and sweet. White hired longtime Vitello assistant Josh Elander as his new baseball coach.
Keep in mind: This isn’t just the Tennessee baseball program. It’s the Tony Vitello baseball program, and Elander has been a big part of that.
Remember what UT baseball was for many years before Vitello made it his program?
My guess is you would rather forget.
To synopsize: If it wasn’t the worst baseball program in the SEC, it was in the conversation — for a long time.
Vitello changed that in spectacular fashion. And Elander played a major role in UT baseball’s sudden rise to national prominence.
He was a hitting coach for one heavy-hitting team after another. He also was Vitello’s recruiting coordinator, and you know how good the Vols’ recruiting has been. They wouldn’t have won a national championship and qualified for three College World Series in the past five years without elite talent.
It’s no wonder former UT players posted on social media that Elander would be the best candidate to succeed Vitello. In Elander’s seven-plus years with the Vols, the players got to know him during the recruiting process before he helped hitters fine-tune their swings.
Players often prefer the coach they know. That’s understandable. But familiarity was hardly his only plus.
I don’t know Elander. But I’ve talked to people who do. They say he’s nothing like Vitello personality-wise. They also say he’s well-versed in every aspect of the program and believe he can keep it rolling in the right direction.
Because this would be an awful time to lose momentum. Lindsey Nelson Stadium has been renovated and expanded. Ticket prices have gone up drastically. There’s another talent-laden roster already on campus. And more highly touted players already have committed for next year.
Vitello and his staff didn’t take breaks from recruiting. They constantly recruited ahead. Way ahead, sometimes.
Even if the Vols keep winning at a high level, you shouldn’t assume fans will continue to show up in record numbers without Vitello in the Tennessee dugout. Fans with little interest in baseball began following the program because of Vitello’s personality and looks.
You can’t bring back Vitello. However, you can maintain a connection to Vitello by hiring the coach he hired as his righthand man when he took on the challenge of building a program that had bottomed out.
Vitello made it clear in his farewell statement how much the program, the fans and the entire state of Tennessee meant to him. He said he didn’t want to ever lose that connection.
Fans feel the same way about Vitello.
Of course, White’s job wasn’t to hire someone who would have Vitello’s blessing. His job was to hire someone who could keep the Vols contending for championships.
But when he chose Elander, perhaps he hired a coach who could do both.
John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com.