On Friday, new San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello broke his silence about his decision to leave the University of Tennessee to manage in the Majors.
Vitello’s move is unprecedented in modern baseball. College coaches don’t get MLB managerial jobs without pro experience, either as a player or coach. Vitello has none. The closest parallel is Dick Howser.
He was the head coach at Florida State in 1979 before taking over as New York Yankees manager in 1980. But Howser was a Major League player and was a pro coach — and a Yankees interim manager — in the decades prior to going to FSU.
The 47-year-old St. Louis native has no such experience to lean on. Since the Giants announced Vitello took the job, he’s been silent. That was until Friday, when he spoke to the media with a prepared statement primarily to Tennessee-based media, which was reported by multiple outlets including 247Sports.com’s Vols site.
Tony Vitello’s Opening Statement
Vitello’s statement was long. It thanked practically everyone associated with the Tennessee baseball program, including athletic director Danny White, fans and other long-time associates. But he started out with a joke, one that will resonate with Giants fans.
“By now, you all know I officially accepted a position to babysit Drew Gilbert,” Vitello said. “Normally I don’t read to y’all, but hopefully I can just get through some notes without any tears. There’s been a lot. Had to watch some Leanne Morgan to stop here and there a few different times. But here we are. I just wanted to kind of get some things out there and not have any regrets, so that’s why I wrote some notes down.”
Gilbert made his MLB debut earlier this year with the Giants. But, before he was Houston Astros’ first-round pick in 2022, he played three seasons for the Volunteers, where he built an all-SEC career. He joined San Francisco in July after he was dealt to the franchise by the New York Mets in a deal that included Tyler Rogers.
Gilbert slashed .190/.248/.350 with a .598 OPS, three home runs and 13 RBI. But, with the departure of Mike Yastrzemski, he figures to be the starting right fielder in 2026 — and will play for his former college coach.
Vitello takes over the Giants after spending eight seasons at Tennessee, where he spent eight seasons rebuilding the Volunteers into one of the best baseball programs in NCAA Division I. That reached a zenith in 2024 when he guided Tennessee to 60 wins and the Men’s College World Series championship in 2024. He also took the program to the MCWS in 2021 and 2023. He also led the program to two SEC regular-season and tournament championships.
Before that, the collegiate infielder at Missouri was an assistant coach at Missouri, TCU and Arkansas.
