The San Francisco Giants are hiring Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello to be the franchise’s next manager.
The 47-year-old will make his departure to Major League Baseball straight from the collegiate ranks without having any former professional coaching experience, a feat never before attempted in baseball history.
Vitello guided the Vols to their first national title in program history during the 2024 season, the culmination of a Tennessee rise through the college baseball scene engineered by the St. Louis native. Since his hiring in 2018, Tennessee has reached the Men’s College World Series three times and has won a pair of SEC regular-season and tournament championships.
Giants’ president of baseball operations Buster Posey led his team’s managerial search towards Vitello after firing former manager Bob Melvin at the conclusion of the 2025 MLB season. Posey enters his second year in an executive role for his big league club, a position that the former All-Star catcher has taken a unique approach to. His hiring of Vitello serves as proof.
The Vols’ headman served as one of the faces of Tennessee athletics, showing his energetic support at numerous other sporting events. The success he brought to the baseball program sparked an ongoing $105.1 million renovation of Lindsey Nelson Stadium in an effort to make it one of the premier venues in college baseball.
Before his time at Tennessee, Vitello spent time as an assistant coach at Missouri, TCU and Arkansas. His job at the helm in San Francisco will only be the second head coaching opportunity of his career.
The Vols have reached five consecutive NCAA Super Regionals dating back to the 2021 season under Vitello. He took Tennessee to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in over a decade in 2019, a campaign that saw the Vols post their first 40-win season ever in Vitello’s second season.
The Missouri graduate has produced 10 first-round MLB draft selections over his tenure with Tennessee. The Vols’ 42 total players drafted since 2021 is a number that tops the nation, a result of Vitello’s transformation of the program into a powerhouse.
Vitello will join former Tennessee standouts turned Giants’ prospects Maui Ahuna, Gavin Kilen and Drew Gilbert upon taking his perch inside the dugout at Oracle Park. Gilbert and right-handed pitcher Blade Tidwell were acquired by San Francisco by way of a trade during the 2025 MLB trade deadline in July.
The Giants will pay Vitello’s $3 million buyout included in his contract with Tennessee.
