Former Tennessee Vols baseball coach Tony Vitello has experienced a gauntlet of weird situations during his first season as the manager of the San Francisco Giants.

From Rafael Devers refusing to come out of a game to Harrison Bader crashing his scooter in the middle of the night to getting hammered almost nightly by the local media, it’s been an eventful season for the St. Louis native.

The Giants are 21 games under .500 as of August 13. They have the second worst record in the National League.

And now Vitello may be dealing with his toughest situation yet.

According to The Athletic’s Brittany Ghiroli, there are some inside and outside the Giants organization who wonder if Vitello might lose control of the clubhouse, if he hasn’t already.

“Some inside and outside of the organization fear Vitello is too deferential to big leaguers and wonder if he might lose control of the clubhouse, if he hasn’t already,” wrote Ghiroli.

Ghiroli mentioned that Vitello telling his players to treat him as a “teammate” raised some eyebrows.

“The rookie manager told players to treat him as a teammate, which raised eyebrows,” noted Ghiroli. “Vitello has had clear issues deploying his bullpen and leading professional athletes making tens of millions of dollars.”

Tony Vitello isn’t the main person to blame for the Giants’ struggles in 2026

Most of the Giants’ issues are due to a flawed roster.

Which is why President of Baseball Operations Buster Posey is the man feeling the most heat in San Francisco right now.

Posey, for what it’s worth, believes Vitello is on the right track.

But Posey also can’t fire Vitello — doing so would be Posey admitting a mistake and would likely seal his fate in San Francisco — so he really has no choice but to back the former Tennessee coach.

The roster, though, is the real issue. It’s not the right mix of players, and many of Posey’s moves have failed.

2027 is an important year for Posey. If the Giants don’t turn things around next season — 2026 will be San Francisco’s fifth-straight non-winning season (the first time in franchise history that’s happened) — then Posey will probably be let go. And Vitello will almost certainly go out the door with him.

There’s not much reason to think that Posey has what it takes to suddenly put a championship roster on the field. Baseball can be a weird sport, but I’d be surprised if the Giants suddenly turn into a contender while playing in a division with the Dodgers, Padres, and Diamondbacks.

I’m a fan of Vitello. I’ve said it many times — I think he’s an elite coach and is absolutely about the right stuff. I hope his reputation isn’t destroyed by what’s happening with the Giants. But ultimately, I think he’s at his best in the college game. And that’s not an insult to Vitello — I don’t think the top MLB managers could come close to accomplishing what Vitello accomplished at Tennessee. The jobs are completely different.

We’ll see what happens with Vitello. No one has a crystal ball. But if I’m placing a bet, I’m wagering that Vitello is back in the college game in 2028.