Tennessee Vols baseball coach Tony Vitello is a college baseball lifer.

Vitello has been involved in college baseball since his playing days at Spring Hill College and later Missouri.

It's rare that a college baseball head coach makes the jump to MLB, so Vitello will likely spend his entire career at the collegiate level.

And I think that's what he'd prefer. There's no doubt that Vitello is a perfect fit in college baseball — specifically at Tennessee.

But as much as Vitello loves the game, there's one thing that frustrates him.

And it's something that impacts every program.

Vitello, like probably every other college baseball coach, finds it a bit frustrating when Tennessee loses a commit to the MLB draft.

It happens every year. A highly touted commit/signee ends up getting drafted high and never makes it to campus.

Vitello is obviously happy for the player, but it makes managing the roster difficult — though Vitello also sees it with a glass-half-full approach. If a player signs with Tennessee and gets drafted high, it's great exposure for UT's baseball program.

"A little bit of it is the cost of doing business, but there is also some strategy involved," said Vitello to The Athletic recently. "There is nothing in life that is free, even if it’s a guy you sign and it’s a Brady House, you are still watching the draft, there is still energy put into it, and there are still positives to it."

"Your program is seen as a school that signs the best players or some of the best players in the country," added Vitello. "It’s certainly a part of the deal and it’s interesting how each program has to put together their own strategy, but it’s incredibly frustrating when you put a ton of time into something and you technically get no return on your investment. But that is kind of the nature of the beast with our sport."

Vitello doesn't seem frustrated by losing the player as much as he's frustrated by putting in all the time to land a player and then getting no return on that investment.

And that's certainly understandable.

The Vols recently received a commitment from Luca Ramirez, the son of legendary former MLB player Manny Ramirez.

While it was exciting to see such a big name commit to the Vols, as soon as he committed the questions about whether or not he'll make it to Knoxville started (he's a 2024 commit so it's a bit early to know what his draft projection will be).

It's a battle that will never end for college coaches. It's just part of the sport.

Because of Tennessee's recent success, it's a problem that fans will probably notice even more in the coming years. It won't be a surprise if the Vols started landing more of the top baseball recruits in the nation, but it also won't be a surprise if most of those players never make it to UT.

Featured image via Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK