UT baseball players were still learning about their new head coach when the Vols hosted Kentucky for a three-game series. Tony Vitello had been hired in June 2017 at age 38 with a reputation for being a strong recruiter but with no experience as a head coach. There was an inherent curiosity about how he would transition to Rocky Top.
Tennessee entered the 2018 Kentucky series barely above .500 overall, and both teams were near the bottom of the SEC standings with losing records. In the UT clubhouse, however, Vitello made it seem like the Vols were playing for a title.
The coach got ejected in the opening game and was suspended for the final two games of the series. Instead of nervously stewing at home, he set up a lemonade stand outside Lindsey Nelson Stadium, met with fans, and donated the proceeds to charity.
After Tennessee beat Kentucky in the final game to clinch the series, Vitello was waiting in the dugout hallway to celebrate with the players as they came off the field. The entire team began dancing and jumping around with him. Once they got back to the team room, Vitello grabbed a chair and pile drove it into the ground.
“It was like a WWE wrestling skit, and everyone was going crazy,” recalls former first baseman Luc Lipcius (’23). “If he had that much passion for just winning one series in the SEC, imagine what else it could be? That moment let me know ‘Oh, my God, this guy is serious about winning.’”
Through his competitive drive, meticulous preparation, and engaging personality, Vitello has staged a remarkably swift turnaround in Knoxville. He’s lifted the UT program from the bottom of the SEC to the best in college baseball.
This June, the Vols won the NCAA Men’s College World Series to capture their first national championship. They made history as the first SEC team to reach the 60-win mark in a single season.
Vitello has taken Tennessee to the MCWS in three of the past four seasons and to the Super Regionals in all four seasons while winning four combined SEC championships. During that span, Tennessee ranks first nationally with 211 wins and a .773 winning percentage.
“It’s all the people behind the scenes that don’t get as much credit as I seem to get from our fan base. That’s a big ingredient to getting things kickstarted,” Vitello says. “We have been blessed with good players and a great support staff.”
Talking Leadership
Chancellor Donde Plowman and Coach Tony Vitello recently sat down together to discuss what it means to be a great leader and build successful teams.
Knoxville’s Leading Man
The baseball program’s resurrection has captivated the UT fan base and made Vitello a quasi-celebrity. During the opening game of the 2024 football season at Neyland Stadium, the Pride of the Southland Band spelled out “Tony V” on the field while honoring the baseball team at halftime. Vitello appeared on ESPN’s popular College GameDay show multiple times and is frequently asked to attend media events.
Chris Burke, a former two-time All-American at UT and current baseball analyst for ESPN and the SEC Network, has witnessed Vitello’s star power from multiple perspectives. His ESPN colleague Mike Rooney, a former college head coach and longtime baseball expert, recently commented to Burke, “I don’t know any other program where the fans wear the coach’s jersey.”
Vitello has lifted the UT program from the bottom of the SEC to the best in college baseball.
“I think Tony has a star quality about him that is very unique,” Burke says. “He is more than just a really good coach, a really good developer, a really good recruiter. He is a coach that almost transcends your sport to the point where with a fan base as big as the University of Tennessee fan base— and it is really big—he might be the most popular person on the campus.”
The UT faithful have responded to Vitello’s ascendance. Record crowds have flocked to Lindsey Nelson Stadium, which is undergoing a multiyear renovation project to keep up with ticket demand and the facility arms race in college athletics. The atmosphere has become one of the best in college baseball. Before Vitello arrived, tickets were often given away and the homefield advantage was minimal.
Vitello’s success has been rewarded monetarily with a five-year contract extension that makes him the highest-paid coach in college baseball at $3 million a year.
“I think there was a feeling amongst alumni that they weren’t sure the program was ever going to get back, but Tony has changed that,” Burke says. “College baseball is a whole other stratosphere of entertaining and fan friendly now than it was even 20 years ago. The talent is even better, and the stage is so much brighter. I was just hopeful somebody could get the program back to that kind of level, and Tony has surpassed everybody’s expectations as far as that is concerned.”
Lipcius noticed the change right away. Vitello arrived without any preconceived notions and judged every player with a clean slate. He wanted to improve the program at every level and wasn’t willing to settle for anything.
“It’s hard to find anyone who brings it every single day like he did. It’s just impressive,” Lipcius says. “You don’t really realize it when you’re going through it. But when you have a moment to reflect, you’re like, ‘Wow, this is hard to do, and he makes it look so easy.’ I think it’s only up from here, especially with that new stadium coming in. He’s just pushed for everything to be better at Tennessee.”
Competitive Upbringing
Vitello was raised in St. Louis, Missouri, where his father, Greg, was a Hall of Fame soccer and baseball coach for 46 years at De Smet High. Vitello and his three older sisters were expected to work hard for everything they earned and learn through experience.
“I grew up in a subdivision that I don’t think really exists anymore, where it was like a movie. The kids all went out in the street, and the older kids kind of educated the young kids in whatever competition it was. Then you got older and there was a next wave,” Vitello says. “I benefited growing up in that environment where kids looked after one another, and the parents just kind of let us go and run wild in the streets and set up different forms of competition.”
“You’re like, ‘Wow, this is hard to do, and he makes it look so easy.’”
—LUC LIPCIUS
Along with coaching, Greg also played softball and basketball in adult leagues well into his 40s. Vitello would watch his father play and coach, often sitting on the bench and absorbing all the interactions.
“You just saw so many things you wish you were a part of,” Vitello says. “But also, looking back, I think a little bit of it was an education for me too. I don’t like what this guy’s saying about the coaches, or I do like the way this guy is leading the team. All those things combined to help me as a coach.”
Vitello played multiple sports throughout his childhood but stuck with baseball. He played one season at Spring Hill College in Alabama before transferring to the University of Missouri, where he earned Academic All-Big 12 Conference honors.
“To be honest with you, I picked baseball only because it was the sport that I was the best at, and I wasn’t even that good. But it took me the furthest,” Vitello says. “I really enjoy the game, and I love how tradition is such a strong part of it. And it’s a father– son game. But really, competition is the main thing, and then the camaraderie of a team is the other. You can find those in a lot of different places, but this one worked out for me.”
Vitello began his coaching career at Missouri and made stops at Texas Christian University and the University of Arkansas before arriving at UT. He helped groom many future Major League Baseball players and became known for his ability to scout and develop talent.
“He has built the Tennessee program on a relentless commitment to recruiting,” Burke says. “He was not interested in making excuses or worried about what the program didn’t have when he showed up. It was more about ‘How can I get the most out of the players that are already here, and then how can we go out and acquire great talent?’ Since the day he started on the job, I don’t think he’s slowed down.”
A Bigger Purpose
Vitello is not universally loved outside of Knoxville. His on-field celebrations and competitive fire along with the team’s swagger have drawn the ire of opposing fans. He understands the animosity and how his omnipresence on social media could come across as brash.
But the outside appearance isn’t always as it seems. Vitello considers himself more of a private person with insecurities that keep him humble.
“Since the day he started on the job, I don’t think he’s slowed down.”
—CHRIS BURKE
“I do feel like I’m confident in our teams, but I’m fighting the same battle that probably everyone is when they wake up on a Monday morning,” Vitello admits. “I’d like to be as confident as I’m preaching our players to be, but I was way low on the scale as a player. I’m much more confident in the abilities to help as a coach or to recruit. But it’s certainly not what people think.”
No matter how many titles his program may accumulate in the future, Vitello knows where he stands in the pecking order at UT. He grew up reading about a legendary Lady Vols basketball coach who transcended her own sport.
“Somebody like Pat Summitt leaves something behind that is indestructible and will never be forgotten. But that’s very, very unique,” Vitello says. “I think for the rest of us normal citizens and normal people, the goal is to affect enough people in a good way that it trickles down generations. But in 200 years, it’s going to be pretty tough for anyone to remember the wins and titles, so don’t get too caught up in that.”
The target on the Vols will be even bigger now that they’ve broken through for their first national title. Vitello hardly spent a day celebrating the historic victory before he went back to recruiting and hiring new staff this summer.
Vitello’s passion and competitiveness will never wane. He wants to win every game and every title. But when he looks in the mirror each morning, he’s inspired by more than just outcomes on the field.
“I made so many mistakes as a person and then even more as a player, so I think being able to educate guys and pass on advice to try and help them is a big thing for me,” Vitello says. “I want them to learn how much it means in life to be a good person and be a good teammate.”