Former Tennessee Vols baseball coach Tony Vitello, who is in his first season as the manager of the San Francisco Giants, has officially changed his Paul Skenes take that angered LSU Tigers fans a couple of years ago.

In 2023, Vitello and the Vols faced Paul Skenes and LSU in the College World Series.

Tennessee lost the game 6-3 after Skenes allowed just two runs while striking out 12 over 7.2 innings.

A couple of days after that game, Vitello told reporters that he thought then-Vols pitcher Chase Burns was the best pitcher in the College World Series.

Those comments didn’t sit well with LSU fans.

Burns, who transferred to Wake Forest after the 2023 season, was certainly terrific in the College World Series while pitching in relief for the Vols.

Skenes, though, proved he was a generational player in Omaha that summer, specifically when he threw eight shutout innings against Wake Forest to advance to the College World Series finals against the Florida Gators (LSU took two out of three from Florida).

Three years later and Vitello now acknowledges that Skenes was “unquestionably” the best pitcher in college baseball in 2023.

“He was unquestionably the best arm that year,” said Vitello of Skenes on Friday while speaking to reporters before the Giants’ game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

“I think everyone knew how good he was in the country, but it was a little bit surprising at how he just catapulted to the forefront.“

Tony Vitello was asked if Pirates’ star Paul Skenes was the best college pitcher he’s ever seen #SFGiants pic.twitter.com/iAIxwCWgTo

— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) May 9, 2026

Maybe Vitello’s comments in 2023 were just a last ditch effort to keep Burns from transferring (though Burns’ mind seemed to be made up by then). Either way, Vitello has the right take now.

Vitello and the Giants, by the way, will miss Skenes’ turn in the rotation this weekend.