Former Tennessee Vols assistant football coach sends message to Tony Vitello following his decision to leave UT for the Giants
Tony Vitello left the Tennessee Vols this week to become the new manager of the San Francisco Giants
Former Tennessee Vols assistant football coach Mike Ekeler had a message for Tony Vitello this week.
Vitello resigned as Tennessee’s baseball coach on Wednesday after agreeing to become the new manager of the San Francisco Giants.
Ekeler, who left Rocky Top earlier this year to take a position on Matt Rhule’s staff at Nebraska, sent a congrats tweet to Vitello on Thursday afternoon.
“Congrats, my friend — called up to the majors,” tweeted Ekeler. “Winners WIN — Giants will win championships.”
Tony Vitello and Mike Ekeler had a great relationship with each other during their time at Tennessee
Vitello and Ekeler certainly brought plenty of energy to Tennessee athletics during their time in Knoxville.
The two coaches, in fact, often found each other before football games at Neyland Stadium.
“You’ve got all the other head coaches here, like Tony V and Coach (Rick) Barnes and every coach at the university,” said Ekeler last fall. “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.”
Rocky Top isn’t quite as rowdy with both of those guys gone.
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