Did Arkansas baseball coach Dave Van Horn throw shade at Tennessee baseball?
There's been no love lost between Arkansas baseball coach Dave Van Horn and Tennessee baseball Tony Vitello. Vitello was on Van Horn's staff at Arkansas for four seasons before he was hired as the Vols' baseball coach in 2017. But that doesn't mean the two see eye to eye on things. Last season, things got […]
There's been no love lost between Arkansas baseball coach Dave Van Horn and Tennessee baseball Tony Vitello.
Vitello was on Van Horn's staff at Arkansas for four seasons before he was hired as the Vols' baseball coach in 2017. But that doesn't mean the two see eye to eye on things.
Last season, things got heated between Van Horn and Vitello during a three-game series in Knoxville.
"It could have been something that was going on during the game," said Van Horn after the altercation last season. "It could have been about recruiting. It could be about a lot of things. You could probably pick one of (those) or all three."
Earlier this week, Van Horn spoke to reporters and he threw some shade at teams that essentially play with high energy.
Van Horn doesn't like dugout "shenanigans" or "rah-rah" type stuff.
Van Horn's comments are obviously directed at more than one team (his comments at the end were directed at Alabama). But I think Tennessee is definitely included there. On top of the altercation between Van Horn and Vitello last season, there's also the fact that UT plays with a LOT of energy (and they should…Van Horn's comments represent an archaic view of baseball).
I mean, can you imagine how much Van Horn hates when Vitello celebrates like this with his players?
Or how about when Vitello took off sprinting after Drew Gilbert's walk-off grand slam against Wright State last year?
That's easily one of my favorite baseball moments of all time. Just pure emotion from Tony V.
And coincidentally, it's likely one of Van Horn's least favorite baseball moments of all time.
There's nothing wrong with the way Van Horn coaches his team. It's his team, after all. And he's obviously a great baseball coach.
But there's no need to throw shade at other programs because they do things differently. He doesn't get to decide how Tennessee baseball and other programs play.
Sometimes it's best to just keep quiet and move on. Someone should pass that advice along to Dave Van Horn.
Featured image via Saul Young/News Sentinel via Imagn Content Services, LLC
