Georgia baseball coach shares thoughts on Tony Vitello leaving Tennessee for the Giants
Tony Vitello agreed this week to leave the Tennessee Vols to become the new manager of the San Francisco Giants
Tony Vitello made an unprecedented move this week by agreeing to leave the Tennessee Vols to become the new manager of the San Francisco Giants.
Vitello is the first college baseball coach to be hired directly to a manager’s job in MLB without having previous MLB/minor league playing or coaching experience.
The former Tennessee head coach will be introduced by the Giants in a press conference on October 30.
Georgia baseball coach Wes Johnson shares thoughts on Tony Vitello leaving Tennessee for the Giants
Georgia Bulldogs baseball coach Wes Johnson shared some thoughts this week on Vitello’s decision to leave the SEC for MLB.
Johnson, who coached with Vitello at Arkansas in 2017, has unique insight on making the jump from college baseball to MLB.
After the 2018 season, Johnson was hired as the Minnesota Twins’ pitching coach. Johnson served in that role for four seasons before returning to college baseball.
“The biggest challenge Tony’s going to run into is that everybody thinks it’s 162 games,” said Johnson. “Depending on how many spring training games you play, you’re really going to play 190 to 195 games. Keeping your energy level is tough, and Tony’s an energy guy. He bounces around a lot. He’s got great energy. But there’s going to be weeks in the big leagues where you lose seven in a row, and it’s like, how do you get to the yard every day with energy?”
“Everybody was like, what was one of the hardest things, or what was something that was hard? I had never lost 61 ball games in a year…We won 101, right? So, believe it or not, it’s not as crazy as it sounds. It’s understanding that you’re going to lose that much. So, I think Tony’s biggest challenge is keeping energy and staying consistent, because it’s not easy when things go south for a week.”
The MLB regular season is certainly a grind — but I think it’s one that Vitello is built to handle. As Johnson noted, Vitello is an energy guy. And while Vitello hasn’t coached 190 plus games in a season before, he’s no stranger to attacking each day with purpose — regardless of that day’s task.
Tennessee Volunteers News
‘I think this will go pretty quick’ – Vols insider gives the latest on Josh Elander and Tennessee’s search for a baseball coach
The Tennessee Vols are officially in the market for a new baseball coach after Tony Vitello agreed this week to become the new manager of the San Francisco Giants.
