Less than a year ago, Tennessee Vols fans’ worst nightmare became a reality when national championship-winning head baseball coach Tony Vitello left Rocky Top to become the manager of the San Francisco Giants.

Vitello brought unprecedented success to Tennessee after taking over as the program’s baseball coach in 2017. The former Missouri infielder changed the culture while turning the Vols into one of the top brands in the sport before delivering a national title in 2024 after a memorable run in Omaha.

Losing Vitello was a tough blow, but the silver lining for Vols fans was that he left for MLB and not another college job — which would’ve been the ultimate nightmare.

Unfortunately, that even scarier nightmare could also become a reality for Vols fans.

USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, a longtime national insider, reported this week that it “wouldn’t surprise a soul” if Vitello returns to college baseball if the right job comes open.

“The Giants took an unprecedented gamble when they hired Vitello from the University of Tennessee, and it has badly backfired,” wrote Nightengale. “It certainly hasn’t helped that the Giants surrounded him with a huge contingent of young and inexperienced coaches, but they are the biggest mess outside Queens.

“They’ve embarrassed themselves with their performance, leaving them no choice but to place every veteran on the trade block but starter Logan Webb. It might be too embarrassing to fire Vitello after one year, but it wouldn’t surprise a soul to see Vitello return to the college ranks if the right opening comes his way.”

It’s feeling increasingly likely that Vitello is going to be back in the college game sooner rather than later.

I’m not sure, though, that Vitello returning to college baseball in 2027 is plausible.

For starters, there are no big-time openings right now (though that could always change). Secondly, it’s extremely unlikely that Vitello would leave the Giants before the season is over. Even if a great college opportunity came up later this summer, I would fully expect Vitello to finish the season with the Giants — he’s not the type to abandon ship (a la Lane Kiffin) before the season is over.

Where could Tony Vitello land if he did return to college baseball in 2027?

One school to keep an eye on is Missouri, Vitello’s alma mater.

The Tigers oddly chose to retain Kerrick Jackson for a fourth season despite poor results so far during his tenure (63-102 over the last three years, including a 24-31 record in 2026).

If Vitello expresses an interest in returning to college baseball after the 2026 season, it would be easy for Missouri to move on from Jackson and bring Tony V “home”.

It’s still possible that Vitello finds his footing in the big leagues and never returns to college, but that would be a surprise at this point.