Tennessee coach Josh Elander drops some strong quotes on former Vols coach Tony Vitello ahead of matchup against ECU

Tennessee Volunteers head baseball coach Josh Elander was asked about his mentor, former UT coach Tony Vitello, on Thursday. The Vols are to take on ECU in the Chapel Hill Regional on Friday.

Zach Ragan — Tennessee Volunteers News Writer
Add as preferred source on Google
Tennessee Vols
The biggest story on Rocky Top right now is easily the situation with Penn State EDGE transfer addition Chaz Coleman. Coleman was the Tennessee Vols’ biggest transfer addition this offseason, but he missed time during spring practice, and he hasn’t reported yet for voluntary summer workouts. The Ohio native has reportedly been dealing with some off-the-field personal issues, but it’s unclear exactly what those issues are. On3’s Chris Low shares the latest on Chaz Coleman On3’s Chris Low joined Fox Sports Knoxville’s The Drive on Thursday afternoon and shared his latest intel on Coleman. And let’s just say it won’t leave Vols fans feeling optimistic about Coleman suiting up for Tennessee this fall. “He was in spring practice for maybe not even a week,” said Low. “He did very little, if anything, during the offseason conditioning program and the weight program. Here we are now, what, three days [after] the players are supposed to be back and he’s not back. I think it’s really to the point now where he’s left Josh Heupel and his staff with very little decision. Unless, again, there’s something else out there that comes to life. But we’re probably to the point where it’s unlikely that we see him play football at Tennessee. “I don’t ever want to get in people’s personal business, but there are some things that this kid has dealt with. So whatever is out there, whatever those things are, he’s gotta get those things in control. But he doesn’t have a lot of options. I know some people say, ‘Well, he wants to go to Ohio State.’ Well, there is no spring portal, you can’t transfer and play next year.” “There’s several different components to this,” continued Low. “But this can’t continue to drag on. Every kid in that locker room right now is watching. They know what happened with the Nico thing. This is something that can’t become a pattern at Tennessee. But I’ll reiterate this: I hope all the things the kid is going through and has struggled with, I hope he can get it under control. It just looks like with this dragging on the way it is, that I don’t know how confident anybody is at Tennessee that he’s gonna be playing football (for the Vols).” This is obviously a less-than-ideal situation for the Volunteers. Everyone should be hoping that Colemans’ off-the-field issues are handled and that he thrives moving forward. But at the same time, if he doesn’t play for the Vols in 2026, then Tennessee is going to have a massive hole at EDGE rusher. And it’s tough to win in the SEC without a dominant pass rusher. For now, though, everyone — from fans and media to Tennessee’s coaching staff — is waiting to see what’s next for Chaz Coleman.

Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Elander was asked about his mentor, former UT coach Tony Vitello, on Thursday.

Elander and the Vols are set to take on the ECU Pirates on Friday at noon in the Chapel Hill Regional.

The first-year Vols coach was asked specifically what kind of mentor Vitello was for him over the last eight seasons (Elander was an assistant under Vitello at UT from 2018 to 2025).

Elander also played under Vitello at TCU (Vitello was an assistant coach at the time).

“I wouldn’t be sitting here without Tony Vitello,” said Elander. “I played for him in college. We were together in different roles — where I was the volunteer [assistant coach] at Arkansas. Then he gave me my first opportunity, and again, I owe everything in baseball to him. I never take that for granted.

“We’ve been here (Chapel Hill) before and not won a regional. We’ve been fortunate to win some regionals as well, so just some experience to look back on and navigate, and get the guys in the right mindset. But this time of year it’s not about coaches at all. It’s about players doing things between the lines, and so I thought our vibes were immaculate in practice today. That was a theme when Tony was here, and will continue to be for a long time. But I’m excited to see how our guys compete.”

Vitello’s first regional as Tennessee’s head coach, coincidentally, was the Chapel Hill Regional in 2019.

Earlier this week, Vitello, who is in his first season as the manager of the San Francisco Giants, was asked about the Vols’ draw.

“Obviously, they’re capable because I think a lot of their coaching staff, and it’s a talented roster,” said Vitello. “But it’s also playoff time. Anything can happen, and I know that was Buster’s (Posey) teams’ philosophies — just let us in the playoffs and see what happens. Because anything can happen, and you can wreak a little havoc, as long as you’ve got some self-belief.

“The storm or the waves will get even rockier in playoff time, so the teams that can kind of manage that a little bit better, and keep their composure in those situations, are going to do a lot better. But I’ve broken down those numbers a ton, just because you’re hosting doesn’t mean you’re going to win. And the numbers, in the most recent years, there’s been more and more bracket busters in college baseball, kind of like we’re used to in March Madness — where home field doesn’t really play anything into it. But there’s chaos.”

The Athletic predicts how far Tennessee will advance

Tennessee obviously isn’t the favorite to advance out of the Chapel Hill Regional, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that The Athletic is predicting that the Vols’ season will end on North Carolina’s campus.

The Athletic’s Mitch Light has the Tar Heels advancing this weekend (VCU is the fourth team in the Chapel Hill Regional).

Interestingly, while making his prediction, Light pointed out that no team in the country has had more 1-2-3 innings this season than Tennessee.

“Tennessee’s pitching staff leads the nation in 1-2-3 innings with 176, nine more than any other team. Evan Blanco leads with 34, followed by Tegan Kuhns (24), Landon Mack (20) and Cam Appenzeller (20),” noted Light.

If the Vols can load up on 1-2-3 innings in Chapel Hill, they may surprise some folks and advance to the Super Regional.

Related Articles