Tony Vitello gives ‘overly honest answer’ about how it difficult the transition from Tennessee to MLB will be
Former Tennessee Vols baseball coach Tony Vitello was introduced as the San Francisco Giants’ new manager late last month.
The biggest question that Tony Vitello faces as he transitions from being the Tennessee Vols’ head baseball coach to the manager of the San Francisco Giants is how he’ll handle the challenge of making the jump from college to MLB.
Vitello has never played or coached in the big leagues. He’s the first coach to make the jump directly from college to being a manager in MLB without having previous big league experience.
The former Tennessee head coach gave a remarkably honest answer this week when asked during an interview how difficult the transition from college to MLB will be.
Tony Vitello gives “overly honest answer” about how it difficult the transition from Tennessee to MLB will be
Vitello appeared on 95.7 The Game this week and he was asked about making the big jump to MLB.
“Here’s an overly honest answer — I’ll probably get myself into trouble more times than once, especially with the multiplication of media opportunities in the big leagues — is that I don’t know,” said Vitello. “I’ve not been in that dugout. I’ve been to a lot of games. I’ve coached players. I’ve talked with guys. I don’t know exactly what differences will pop up.
“Now, that might make me look bad down the road, but I’ll take a little weight off my shoulders, and I’m not trying to make any excuses, but especially at the pro level, but also in college, the players are the ones that are on the field. And our job as coaches is to put them in a successful position. And of course, the better ones, like Coach (Kyle) Shanahan, do that more often. But there’s a lot of people that are involved in a win and a loss — a crowd, the players have the biggest role, and then there’s going to be an entire coaching staff we put together. My role on that coaching staff will be maybe the final say on a pitching change or a lineup decision, or what a speech is after a tough loss, or something like that. But I’m not going to be the only one in the dugout. I’m not going to be the only one in the building that’s helping us prepare for a game.”
That’s classic Tony V — humble and never making it about just himself.
Giants fans are going to love the candidness and genuineness that they get from Vitello each day.
This article was originally published on A to Z Sports Tennessee Vols as Tony Vitello gives ‘overly honest answer’ about how it difficult the transition from Tennessee to MLB will be.
Tennessee Volunteers News
‘I was trying to watch Alabama and Tennessee’ – Tony Vitello gives behind the scenes look at his last Saturday as UT’s baseball coach
Before the Third Saturday in October, the idea of Tony Vitello leaving the Tennessee Vols for the San Francisco Giants seemed far fetched. Things got real, however, a few hours before Tennessee played Alabama when The Athletic reported that San Francisco was closing in on a deal with Vitello. It was several days before Vitello […]
