Tony Vitello admits he’s had to change what made him a force at Tennessee after leaving Knoxville for the San Francisco Giants
Former Tennessee Volunteers baseball coach Tony Vitello admitted this week that he’s had to dial back the trait that made him a superstar coach for eight season in Knoxville.
Tony Vitello became a star baseball coach at Tennessee not just because the Vols won a lot of games during his tenure, but also because of his fiery personality.
Vitello, who left UT last fall to become the manager of the San Francisco Giants, is a reflective baseball lifer who leans into the human element of the game, and he cares deeply about his players and coaches. But when the moment gets intense, well, he meets it with the same intensity.
Those aren’t manufactured moments from Vitello. That’s just Tony V being real and genuine. That was the norm during his eight seasons at Tennessee.
Some fans of other college baseball programs (looking at you, Vanderbilt fans) would often criticize Vitello for his fiery moments. That’s their prerogative. But I think Vitello should be applauded for those moments — he was staying true to himself.
Vitello, though, is finding out that his fiery and intense approach is impossible to sustain over a 162-game MLB season.
Tony Vitello admits he’s had to dial the emotions back
The San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser noted this week after speaking with Vitello that the former Vols coach is “learning to tamp down his emotions.”
Vitello acknowledged that in the college game you usually get a couple of days to settle down before the next game or series. And that’s something he’s had to adjust to in MLB.
“Wearing it on your sleeve and being disappointed and down does not work at all at this level, because the next day you’re going to have a game,” said Vitello to Slusser. “In my previous job, a lot of times you have a reset with a practice or a day off to address those things. Here it’s wake up, prepare to do it, do it as well as you can and then rinse, repeat, recycle.”
The MLB season is a grind. Teams only get a handful of days off each season. It can be taxing to carry that same fiery approach daily as opposed to doing it 3-4 days a week in college.
This has been a season full of adjustments for Vitello, who had no previous experience in minor league baseball or the big leagues. He’s finding his way, but it’s still unclear if MLB is the best longterm option for the popular former Tennessee coach.