'I thought he broke my damn ribs' Vols coach details hilarious interaction with Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello
Tennessee Vols baseball coach Tony Vitello has been a familiar sight on the sideline recently at UT football games. Vitello, who has also been spotted sitting courtside at Vols basketball games (both men's and women's), has been seen having a good time during Tennessee football games on the sideline this season. In the Vols' win […]
Tennessee Vols baseball coach Tony Vitello has been a familiar sight on the sideline recently at UT football games.
Vitello, who has also been spotted sitting courtside at Vols basketball games (both men's and women's), has been seen having a good time during Tennessee football games on the sideline this season. In the Vols' win against Kentucky earlier this month, Vitello caught an errant pass and took off running down the sideline with the football.
Before Tennessee's win against Mississippi State last weekend, Vitello got down in a three-point stance and "rushed" Vols special teams coordinator/linebackers coach Mike Ekeler.
Ekeler joined Vol Calls on Wednesday night ahead of Tennessee's big road game against the Georgia Bulldogs and he detailed his hilarious interactions with Vitello (which includes taking a couple of punches to the ribs).
"You've got all the other head coaches here, like Tony V and Coach (Rick) Barnes and every coach at the university," said Ekeler. "Only thing I've got against Tony V, man, is I'm going to have to have somebody help me out. Because before Florida, I come out of the tunnel, he's waiting on me, and I'm not kidding, it was like Rocky Balboa in his prime, two shots to the gut. I mean, I thought he broke my damn ribs.
"And then I come out last week, and I'm talking to (former UT wide receiver) Grant Frerking on the sideline, I turn around, he's in a three-point stance. And he comes at me like a dang bull. And then, after he's been doing all that, I said, 'Come on, man, hit me. It's tradition.' [He] hit me as hard as he could right in the ribs."
A shot to the ribs from Vitello is nothing for Ekeler. And that's no slight toward Vitello — Ekeler has literally been seen bleeding on the sideline after headbutting players who were wearing helmets.
What can you say, the man likes his chili hot.
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