Tennessee baseball is without a coach in October, an unusual time in the college baseball world to be in the market for a coach.
The Vols and athletics director Danny White have to fill the spot left by Tony Vitello, who was hired by the San Francisco Giants to be their manager.
The first decision facing White is whether he appoints an interim coach or launches into a coaching search outside the normal months in which to conduct a search.
White surely will follow his usual process when it comes to appointing a coach. He typically meets with the team to talk with the players and hear what they value and find most important. He prioritizes hearing from the team’s leaders specifically.
UT has two leading interim candidates on the staff with associate head coach Josh Elander and pitching coach Frank Anderson.
Anderson was the coach at Oklahoma State from 2004-12. He has been the pitching coach on Vitello’s staff since 2017 and produced a long list of MLB Draft picks. Elander has been the hitting coach on UT’s staff since 2017 and was appointed the associate head coach in 2022. He is an elite recruiter and has coached the best offenses in Tennessee history, including the 184-homer 2024 Tennessee team.
An interim coach also likely would help with retention of the roster long term as well as the recruiting classes. The 2026 class is set to sign in November. Tennessee has the No. 3 class in the 2026 cycle, according to Perfect Game. It has 10 top-100 recruits in the class. UT also has the second-ranked recruiting class in the 2027 cycle with nine of its 12 commits ranked in the top 100.
The college coaching cycle typically runs from May through July, but Tennessee also is not a typical job.
The Vols are clearly willing to spend major money on baseball as shown through the ongoing Lindsey Nelson Stadium renovations and Vitello’s salary, which reached $3 million after winning the College World Series.
Tennessee has been winning at the highest level in this decade with three trips to the CWS and five straight super regional appearances.
The resources and the profile of the program make it possible for White to pluck a high-level sitting college baseball coach despite the odd timing.
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.