‘He was hard to get a hold of’ – Comment from Buster Posey shows Tony Vitello wasn’t looking for a way out of Tennessee
Former Tennessee Vols baseball coach Tony Vitello was introduced as the new manager of the San Francisco Giants on Thursday.
There’s been some debate among Tennessee Vols fans about whether or not Tony Vitello was looking for a way out of Knoxville amid his decision to become the new manager of the San Francisco Giants.
Most of that debate stems from rumblings about Vitello’s relationship with Tennessee athletic director Danny White.
Additionally, On3’s Chris Low suggested last week that Vitello leaving Tennessee didn’t have to happen.
“I think over the last couple years, if you’re inside and sort of know what’s going on, this probably wasn’t just a complete surprise to a lot of people,” said Low. “Certainly [people] close to the program — that there had not been what I would call the best relationships between Tony and Danny White, the Tennessee AD. And I think when you combine all of it — I don’t think it was just one thing — but when you combine all of it, what happened yesterday, happened.”
“I think as people sort of think back through (the Vitello era), it now, and what it was like, there’s a lot of sadness,” continued Low. “I know, Danny White said it was a proud day. I disagree. It was a sad day, because I don’t think this had to happen. I think there was a way for this not to happen, and it happened.”
Comment from Giants President of Baseball Operations Buster Posey shows Tony Vitello wasn’t looking for a way out of Tennessee
During Vitello’s introductory press conference with San Francisco on Thursday, Giants President of Baseball Operations Buster Posey mentioned that the former Tennessee coach was difficult to get a hold of at times during this process.
“I don’t remember the exact timing (of first talking to Vitello), once the season was over I started having conversations,” said Posey. “Pretty casual to start with. A unique thing about this process was — and it’s one of the things that I’ve come to really appreciate about Tony, and honestly made me feel more confident in this decision — this guy was hard to get a hold of because he was on the field all the time, or he was bouncing from city to city recruiting. And just because this was on his plate, he was still a full go with what his job was at Tennessee, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for that. I wish it was easier to get in contact with [Vitello] during those times sometimes, but that’s a little bit of how it played out.”
It’s not a surprise to hear that comment from Posey — Vitello works as hard as anyone in the sport. And he was completely dedicated to his job at at Tennessee up until the moment he accepted the job with the Giants.
Vitello will be missed at Tennessee, but unlike many of the coaches that have left Rocky Top in the past under different circumstances, he’ll always be welcomed back to Knoxville with open arms.
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