Former Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello was in Knoxville this past weekend for the Vols’ big win over Alabama.

Vitello, who left Tennessee a year ago to take over as the manager of the San Francisco Giants, joined the Tony Basilio Show on Tuesday and detailed the electric atmosphere that he experienced at Neyland Stadium for the Alabama game.

“I don’t know that that wasn’t the best environment that I’ve been in,” said Vitello. “… It was pretty special to be a part of. I mean, the videos I sent to some of the players on our team with the Giants of the chaos on the field — everybody singing Rocky Top and singing Dixieland delight — people couldn’t believe it.”

Tony Vitello has message for the Vols fans who show up to Giants games

Vitello closed his appearance with Basilio by sending a heartfelt “thank you” to the Vols fans who show up to Giants games and show support.

“I’ll steal the moment to get selfish,” said Vitello. “Our season (with the Giants) was obviously challenging. But going around to different parks and seeing a bunch of people from Tennessee everywhere — in Pittsburgh, there were like 20 people. I was like, ‘What are you guys doing here?’ It made it a lot of fun, and it was pretty cool to see. It made it emotional at first.

“There’s some Giants/Tennessee combo hats that are pretty cool to see. But to see people spend their money and spend their time, and kind of show loyalty, if that’s the right word, or to show they had our backs, it was one of the big bright spots of the season. So I’ll use this platform to say thank you for that, and I definitely won’t forget it.”

Vitello is certainly missed on Rocky Top, but there’s no doubt that he still has orange coursing through his veins.

Even in the interview with Basilio, there was a lot of “we” and “our” when Vitello was talking about Tennessee.

No one knows what the future holds for Vitello, but the Big Orange will always be a big part of who he is as a person and as a coach.