Tony Vitello will arrive in the Bay Area next week with a clear conscience. That doesn’t mean the Giants’ new manager didn’t agonize over his decision to leave the University of Tennessee.
“It was selfish,” Vitello told a handful of reporters, including from the Knoxville News Sentinel, this week in Knoxville. “It was personal reasons. I have always tried to be a good teammate, but I feel like I made a selfish decision that was one I needed to make. It was the right decision.”
Vitello will be officially introduced as the Giants’ 40th manager on Thursday, eight days after he was picked by Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey to replace Bob Melvin. The delay is to avoid, as much as possible, stealing some of the spotlight from the Dodgers-Blue Jays World Series. Game 1 is tonight in Toronto. The Giants’ introductory news conference would be on the off-day before a potential Game 6.
FILE – Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello, left, talks with pitcher Kirby Connell before an NCAA college baseball super regional game against Notre Dame, June 11, 2022, in Knoxville, Tenn. Tennessee suspended Vitello, Friday, Feb. 24, 2023, for the Volunteers’ weekend series with Dayton while university officials, Vitello and the NCAA handle a violation in the program. (AP Photo/Randy Sartin, File)
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There already has been plenty of discussion about Posey’s bold move to hire the fiery 47-year-old Vitello. He has established himself as one of the top (and colorful) coaches in college baseball — the Volunteers won the College World Series in 2024 and under his seven-year watch Tennessee has had nearly a dozen first-round draft picks and 52 players drafted in all. But he’s the first coach to jump directly from campus into a MLB manager job.
Vitello won’t meet with the Bay Area media until next week, but on Thursday he picked a handful of Tennessee media members to discuss his decision. He took a few questions but only answered ones regarding coaching Tennessee baseball and his life in Knoxville. He opened the session by saying, “By now, you all know I officially accepted a position to babysit (Giants firecracker outfielder and former Volunteer) Drew Gilbert.”
Vitello added, “There was a lot of factors. There is a brand new stadium I am going to miss out on (at Tennessee). Anything to do with San Francisco, anything to do with Tennessee — at the end of the day it was not relevant to the decision.”
Vitello also apologized to Tennessee fans for how the pursuit played out in the media. Vitello’s name was first widely linked to the Giants on Oct. 18 and a decision wasn’t made for nearly a week.
“I did not have anything to do with that, and it put everyone in a whirlwind,” Vitello said in his statement. “Now that we look back on it, I think [it] was unfair. Hopefully, people don’t think I’m a diva because that’s kind of how it seemed to play out.”
Vitello said he’d remain connected to the UT community even if his office is now in San Francisco.
“People saying bye and everything like that, I’m not going anywhere. So real estate people quit texting me,” he joked. “Whether it’s football games, basketball games, supporting these guys in some form or fashion, I’m not going anywhere. I don’t know if this will get me in trouble, but in my mind, a goal is to come back to Tennessee in some capacity.
“Whether it’s part-time living or some other job way down the road or maybe I go back to Nashville and become a country singer or something like that. But that’s something that stuck out in my head because obviously I feel like this was a great place for me.”
Although Vitello is making an unprecedented jump to the majors, Brewers manager Pat Murphy has a better view than most about what is ahead for the Giants and their new manager.
Murphy was a head coach at Arizona State and Notre Dame before reaching the majors. But he got his feet wet as a Special Assistant to Baseball Operations with the Padres, and then managed a few seasons in the minors. Murphy even had experience managing the Dutch National Team during the 2000 Olympics. The Oranje just missed the medal round, but defeated Cuba with a smattering of former big leaguers, including former Giants batting coach Hensley Meulens.
San Francisco Giants new president of baseball operations Buster Posey takes part in a press conference on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in San Francisco, Calif (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group) Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group
Murphy said this week he’s not sure he could have made the jump directly to the majors, but believes Vitello can do it.
“I’m excited for this guy,” Murphy told The Associated Pres. “I hear great things. I’ve met him before, but I’m not close associates with him. I’ve heard great things about him. They have a great team and a great organization, so I think it’s going to work, and I don’t think that can happen a lot. I know I wouldn’t have been ready.”
Murphy added, “What I know for sure is that I couldn’t have made the jump successfully. Because it’s two different games. I say it’s like harness racing and thoroughbred racing. What facilitates that thing is if you have a president or other group of people around you that are going to help you facilitate that and the differences.”
Murphy said that’s where Posey comes in.
“It’s one of those things that if you have everything in place helping you through it, I think the best parts of him can come out, the needed parts, building the connections, the impact on players, the parts that he’s not used to,” Murphy said. “There will be people around him to fill him in. Buster Posey is not dumb. He knows what he’s doing. He knew the scrutiny, and he knew the importance of this hire. And I think it’ll go well for them.”
Vitello told the reporters in Knoxville that he might be the first, but not the last college coach to make the leap.
“I will say this about college verse MLB, the versus is fading and there is more of a blend going on,” he said. “College baseball is getting so good and followed so closely by fans and in such big numbers that it is becoming a stepping stone or a version to Major League Baseball on a different level. I think the two are starting to cooperate and work together more and I think you are starting to see more crossover and will continue to see more.”
