Tennessee's Tony Vitello is proof that one of Nick Saban's most famous and ridiculed claims wasn't as silly as it sounded
A little over a decade ago, Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban uttered one of the most famous quotes of his legendary career. After beating LSU 21-0 in the 2012 BCS championship game, Saban told a friend that the game cost him a week of recruiting. “That damn game cost me a week of […]
A little over a decade ago, Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban uttered one of the most famous quotes of his legendary career.
After beating LSU 21-0 in the 2012 BCS championship game, Saban told a friend that the game cost him a week of recruiting.
“That damn game cost me a week of recruiting,” said Saban to his close friend, Steven Rumsey (via GQ).
Some folks viewed that quote as Saban just being Saban — a Bill Belichick-like curmudgeon who thrives on being unsatisfied. Instead of being elated after winning a national championship, Saban was complaining that he was behind in recruiting for the next season.
And maybe that's true. But the quote is also not quite as silly as it sounds.
Tennessee Vols head baseball coach Tony Vitello, in fact, dropped a similar quote this week while talking about what it was like to recruit in the transfer portal after UT won the College World Series last summer.
Vitello appeared on The Tony Basilio Show this week and he said it "sucked" to get a late start on recruiting the portal last summer due the Vols' success in Omaha.
"Yeah, last year sucked," said Vitello when asked about getting a late start on the portal. "It just did. And we struck gold with [Gavin Kilen] and Liam [Doyle] and [Andrew Fischer]. I think that combo deal with those two kids (Doyle and Fischer) was very unique. If that doesn't happen, this conversation is a little more depressing, I think.
"But being where we can have kids see our campus is huge, and timing is everything. So it's going to help. You're in a better position, because you can focus all of your energy into one thing, but it doesn't assure you that you're going to get the guys you want. And then sometimes you get the guys you want, you don't know how it's going to go."
The transfer portal window for baseball opened this season in late May. That means that a team that reaches the College World Series finals (which starts on June 21) will be at least three weeks behind in transfer recruiting.
Vitello certainly isn't bemoaning the fact that Tennessee won the national championship and got a late start in recruiting. There's no doubt that Vitello would take that late start every summer if it meant that Tennessee won a national championship.
But the reality is that winning the natty can be a disadvantage when it comes to recruiting (it's a bit of a paradox). Championship rosters in college baseball are built largely on the backs of transfers. And if you're playing late into June, it can be tough to land the top transfers (a lot of those guys aren't going to just wait around to make a decision). It is what it is.
Vitello, though, is looking to make up for last summer's late recruiting start by being super aggressive in the transfer portal this year.
"We're probably going to be more aggressive in the portal than we've ever been," said Vitello. "I think one thing that people don't realize is, you know, they complain we lose to this team or that team on a Sunday. Well, this team, or that team, loaded up on a lot more portal guys."
It sounds like Tennessee is on a mission to land some elite transfer talent this summer.
