Former Tennessee Vols baseball coach Tony Vitello is over a quarter of the way through his first season as the manager of the San Francisco Giants, and reviews have been mixed so far.

Vitello, who led the Vols to a national championship in 2024, has the Giants sitting 7.5 games out of a playoff spot with 118 games to play, so it’s not like it’s been a disastrous start.

Still, it hasn’t been smooth sailing, either. The Giants have struggled so badly offensively that they traded light-hitting catcher Patrick Bailey, arguably the top defensive catcher in the game, to the Cleveland Guardians in an effort to increase their offensive output.

Some people in San Francisco are speculating that Tony Vitello wishes he was back at Tennessee

The start to Vitello’s MLB managing career has been shaky enough that some folks in San Francisco are speculating that he wishes he was back on Rocky Top.

“I don’t know why I get the feeling that if Tony Vitello could snap his fingers and go back to Tennessee without any repercussions, I think he would,” tweeted 95.7 The Game’s Matt Nahigian this week.

I don’t know why I get the feeling that if Tony Vitello could snap his fingers and go back to Tennessee without any repercussions, I think he would.

— Matt Nahigian (@mattnahigian) May 15, 2026

We obviously don’t know what Vitello is thinking deep down, but I don’t believe he’s actively wishing he was back at Tennessee.

There’s no doubt that Vitello still has a lot of love for Knoxville, but I truly believe he’s 100 percent focused on his job with the Giants. I think the biggest thing on his mind is how to win that day’s game.

I also think Vitello is very much rooting for Josh Elander to be successful as the head coach at Tennessee.

Speaking of Elander, the UT baseball team seems to be hitting its stride as postseason play gets closer. The Vols won a series against the Texas Longhorns last weekend, and they took Game 1 of a three-game series from the Oklahoma Sooners on Thursday night.

Elander had to find his way as the coach of the Vols.

Vitello is doing the same in San Francisco.

I’m not surprised to see the speculation about Vitello and whether he has any regrets, but it’s not like an MLB manager isn’t going to go through some tough stretches over the course of the season.

I mean, just this season we’ve seen a World Series-winning manager in Alex Cora get fired by the Boston Red Sox, and an NL pennant-winning manager in Rob Thomson get fired by the Philadelphia Phillies. Baseball can be a weird sport.

I still think Vitello is a potential star in the big leagues, he just needs some time to fully adjust to life in MLB.