World Series-winning manager Joe Maddon weighed in on the San Francisco Giants’ hire of Tony Vitello, who had no professional experience, saying that such a move is “insulting” to those who have spent their entire careers paying their dues.
“Quite frankly, I’m using the word insulting only from the perspective that it appears as though you don’t have to have any kind of experience on a professional level to do this job anymore,” Maddon told KNBR in San Francisco.
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“When I was coming up, you had to have all that. You had to, like, go through the minor leagues. You had to ride buses. I was a scout. I started in 1981. I finally get a managerial job in 2006. I mean, there was a rite of passage, a method to get to that point.
“So to think that somebody could just jump in there and do it, you took 20-some years to be considered qualified to do, it is kind of insulting.”
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
Tony Vitello is introduced as the new manager of the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on Oct. 30, 2025.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
Tony Vitello is introduced as the new manager of the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on Oct. 30, 2025.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
Tony Vitello (center) is introduced as the new manager of the San Francisco Giants by president of baseball operations Buster Posey (left) and general manager Zack Minasian at Oracle Park on Oct. 30, 2025.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
Tony Vitello (center) answers questions from the media as he is introduced as the new manager of the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. He is flanked by president of baseball operations Buster Posey (left) and general manager Zack Minasian on Oct. 30, 2025.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
Tony Vitello (left) speaks with local media as he is introduced as the new manager of the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on Oct. 30, 2025.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
Tony Vitello (right) answers questions from the media as he is introduced as the new manager of the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on Oct. 30, 2025. He is joined by president of baseball operations Buster Posey.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
Tony Vitello (center) answers questions from the media as he is introduced as the new manager of the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on Oct. 30, 2025. He is flanked by president of baseball operations Buster Posey (left) and general manager Zack Minasian.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
Tennessee Volunteers head coach Tony Vitello speaks with MLB Network during the MLB Draft at The Coca-Cola Roxy on July 13, 2025.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello warms up his players before the start of the NCAA college baseball game against Wake Forest in the Knoxville Regional final on June 1, 2025, in Knoxville, Tennessee.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
University of Tennessee Chancellor Donde Plowman hugs Tennessee head baseball coach Tony Vitello during the NCAA Baseball National Championship celebration in downtown Knoxville on Tuesday, June 25, 2024.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
Vols head coach Tony Vitello smiles ahead of the Knoxville homecoming parade in the team’s honor after winning the baseball World Series on Tuesday, June 25, 2024.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello holds up a commemorative News Sentinel front page after Game 3 of the NCAA College World Series finals between Tennessee and Texas A&M at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska on Monday, June 24, 2024.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello holds up the trophy after game three of the NCAA College World Series finals between Tennessee and Texas A&M at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska, on Monday, June 24, 2024.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
Tennessee Volunteers head coach Tony Vitello holds the national championship trophy after the win against the Texas A&M Aggies at Charles Schwab Field Omaha on June 24, 2024.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
Tennessee Volunteers head coach Tony Vitello signals the team during the ninth inning at Charles Schwab Field Omaha on June 24, 2024.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
Tennessee Volunteers head coach Tony Vitello talks with left fielder Dylan Dreiling (8) after a run scored against the Texas A&M Aggies during the second inning at Charles Schwab Field Omaha on June 22, 2024.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello during practice before the NCAA College World Series finals at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska on Friday, June 21, 2024.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello speaks during a press conference before the NCAA College World Series finals at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska on Friday, June 21, 2024.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
Tennessee Volunteers head coach Tony Vitello against the Florida State Seminoles during the ninth inning at Charles Schwab Field Omaha on June 14, 2024.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
Tennessee Volunteers head coach Tony Vitello celebrates with his team after the championship game between Tennessee and LSU at the SEC Baseball Tournament at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium on May 26, 2024.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
Tennessee Volunteers head coach Tony Vitello before the game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee on Thursday, May 16, 2024.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello is seen on the field during the home opener between Tennessee and UNC Asheville, at the newly renovated Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello takes Knox News on a tour of the renovation work underway at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville on Tuesday, February 6, 2024.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello leaves the hotel before the NCAA Men’s College World Series game between Tennessee and Stanford held at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska on Monday, June 19, 2023.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello slides into Tennessee’s team photo after the team defeated Southern Miss to win the Hattiesburg Super Regional and move on to Omaha for the Men’s College World Series at Pete Taylor Park in Hattiesburg, Mississippi on Monday, June 12, 2023.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello waves to the crowd during the NCAA football match between Tennessee and Kentucky in Knoxville, Tennessee on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
Tennessee baseball head coach Tony Vitello makes an appearance at the ESPN College GameDay stage outside of Ayres Hall on the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville, Tennessee on Sept. 24, 2022. The flagship ESPN college football pregame show returned for the 10th time to Knoxville as the No. 12 Vols hosted the No. 22 Gators.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello (right) argues with umpires after a home run by right fielder Jordan Beck was wiped from the scoreboard after his bat was ruled illegal during the first inning of the game against Vanderbilt at Hawkins Field Friday, April 1, 2022 in Nashville.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
Tennessee baseball head coach Tony Vitello, Knox News Sportsperson of the Year, poses for a portrait with the team’s 2021 College World Series participant trophy at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello disputes a call at the NCAA Baseball Tournament Knoxville Regional at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Friday, June 4, 2021.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello approaches the mound during the college baseball game between Tennessee and Western Carolina on Tuesday, March 30, 2021 at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee.
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Tony Vitello from Tennessee baseball titan to San Francisco Giants manager
At left, John Currie, Tennessee vice chancellor and director of athletics, shakes new University of Tennessee baseball head coach Tony Vitello’s hand at a press conference introducing him to the media, at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Friday, June 9, 2017.
Maddon managed Tampa Bay from 2006-2014, the Chicago Cubs from 2015-2019 and the Los Angeles Angels from 2020-2022, winning a championship in 2016.
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Now 71 years old, Maddon acknowledged that he wasn’t familiar with Vitello – who the Giants plucked straight from the University of Tennessee – but has been impressed with what he’s seen.
“Having said that, I wish (Vitello) nothing but the best,” Maddon said. “Because I watch videos of the guy, and I could actually understand why it’s perceived that he’s ready to do something like this.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Joe Maddon says SF Giants’ hiring of Tony Vitello is ‘insulting’