Danny White is asking Josh Elander to be a candidate for the vacant Tennessee baseball coach position, but he did not ask him to be the interim coach in the wake of Tony Vitello‘s departure to manage the San Francisco Giants.
“As quickly as I would like to move, I’d like Josh to be able to focus on his candidacy,” the Tennessee athletics director told reporters on Oct. 22. “He is in the middle of all this, too.”
Vitello accepted the Giants’ manager position on Oct. 22, making history the first sitting college baseball coach to jump directly into an MLB manager job without prior professional experience.
White appointed pitching coach Frank Anderson as the interim coach following Vitello’s departure. Former Tennessee players flooded social media to support Elander as the next head coach of the Vols. He has been the hitting coach on Vitello’s staff since 2017, while proving himself an elite recruiter and rising to the associate head coach title in 2022.
White explained he chose Anderson, in part, because of Anderson’s head coaching experience at Oklahoma State from 2004-12. He also said he wanted to give Elander the chance to focus on the interview process instead of handling interim duties.
White met with Elander and Anderson on Oct. 21 to discuss the situation and his plan, which was a contingency plan at the time.
“Have had a chance to visit with him more today and look forward to doing that more as we embark on the search process,” White said.
Tennessee has hit at least 100 home runs in four straight seasons under Elander’s tutelage. It hit 184 when it won the College World Series, the second-most in a season in NCAA history behind 1997 LSU which hit 188.
Vitello hired Elander at the start of his tenure. Elander and Vitello were on staff together at Arkansas, where Elander was the volunteer assistant coach with Vitello as the hitting coach. He works with Tennessee’s catchers and also is the recruiting coordinator.
The Round Rock, Texas, native played at TCU from 2010-12. He hit .333 with 39 doubles, seven triples, 18 home runs and 114 RBIs in three seasons. He was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the sixth round of the 2012 MLB Draft and played four years in the minor leagues with the Braves and Arizona Diamondbacks.
Elander spent the 2016 season as a student assistant at TCU following his playing career..
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on X @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.