3:15pm: The decision on whether Vitello will be the next manager of the Giants or not is expected within the next 24 to 72 hours, according to a report from ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Passan adds that while Vitello is the “top target” of San Francisco at this point, the sides have yet to reach a deal.
1:56pm: The Giants’ managerial search seems to be nearing an end, with a surprising name emerging from the college ranks. The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly, Brittany Ghiroli, and Ken Rosenthal report that “the Giants are closing in on hiring” University of Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello as their next skipper. Vitello told The Athletic by text that “there is nothing to confirm” about the news, and the Giants also haven’t commented on the report.
The 47-year-old Vitello was an assistant baseball coach for Missouri (his alma mater), TCU, and Arkansas from 2003-2017 before being hired for the top job at Tennessee in June 2017. The Volunteers have since become an elite program, with a 341-131 record under Vitello’s watch and the school’s first NCAA national championship in baseball in 2024. Beyond that College World Series victory, the Vols also reached the World Series in both 2021 and 2023, and they were SEC regular-season and tournament champions in both 2022 and 2024.
Beyond this sterling record in NCAA baseball, however, Vitello has no experience as a player, coach, or manager in professional baseball. There have been examples in recent years of teams reaching out to hire college coaches or assistants to big league coaching staffs, yet hiring a manager without any experience in an MLB organization is a step beyond. Brewers skipper Pat Murphy is a notable example of a current manager with lots of college head coaching experience, but as Baggarly/Ghiroli/Rosenthal note, Murphy had many years as a minor league manager and a big league bench coach (not to mention a stint as the Padres’ interim manager) in between his NCAA work and his managerial job with the Brewers.
Vitello’s name doesn’t come out of the blue, as Baggarly mentioned him as a possible managerial candidate a little under three weeks ago, when rumors were swirling about Bob Melvin being on the way out in San Francisco. Baggarly felt the Giants would be looking for “a younger manager who operates with a high motor” as Melvin’s replacement, and the names linked to the team’s managerial search have generally fit this description. Former Orioles manager Brandon Hyde and Royals third base coach Vance Wilson are both 52 years old, and former catchers Kurt Suzuki and Nick Hundley are both 42 years old.
In regards to Hundley, the Athletic reporters note that he is now “expected to remain in Texas” in his current job as a special assistant to president of baseball operations Chris Young. Past reports indicated Hundley was a big candidate and possibly the front-runner for the San Francisco job, but Hundley will now remain with the Rangers. It isn’t known if the Giants simply preferred to go with Vitello, or if Hundley may have taken himself out of the running, as he did in 2023 when he was previously considered as a candidate for the Giants’ last managerial vacancy.
Assuming Vitello indeed ends up in San Francisco, it represents a bold move for both the coach and for the Giants organization. Vitello would be “leaving the comfort of his fiefdom for a job that offers anything but stability,” as the Athletic trio puts it. From the perspective of president of baseball operations Buster Posey, replacing a three-time MLB manager of the year in Melvin with someone entirely new to pro baseball is a huge swing for Posey’s very first managerial hire since taking over the Giants’ front office a year ago.
The Giants’ 107-win season in 2021 represents the team’s only playoff appearance and winning record in the last nine years, as San Francisco’s next best marks were 81-81 record in both 2022 and 2025. This season’s .500 record wasn’t enough for Posey in the wake of some big long-term acquisitions (Matt Chapman, Willy Adames, Rafael Devers) within the last year, and Melvin’s dismissal was the latest step in Posey wanting to entirely put his stamp on the franchise’s operations.
There would be no shortage of fascinating subplots to a Vitello hire, the most pressing being simply how a college coach’s tactics can translate to motivating and leading a clubhouse of seasoned major leaguers. Vitello’s NCAA credentials are as good as anyone’s, but as we’ve seen countless times in the NFL, NBA, or NHL, coaching the professional game is vastly different than being a success in the collegiate ranks. The Giants have had difficulty in luring top-tier free agents in the past, and it is worth wondering how those pursuits could be impacted with Vitello in the mix — would free agents balk at playing under an inexperienced manager, or would Vitello’s recruiting methods work as well on big leaguers as they do on blue-chip college prospects?
Very interested in seeing his salary. I would imagine it is substantial to get him to make the leap.
He’s already making $3M/yr. as a D1 coach and is the second highest paid at the level. That’s more than most MLB managers. A long, guaranteed should do it if Posey want him.
Should happen more often. NFL does this all the time. Why do coaches that have proven themselves never get a shot ? (If their style matches the teams abilities of course)
Because it rarely ever works out successfully. Big difference in how you treat college kids and grown men.
Baseball likes trends and Pat Murphy has been pretty successful…
And, as the article points out, Murphy also had years of professional managing experience at the minor league level.
@kc38 Fooey! Name a few examples.
I’ll throw your question back at you lol… name a few that have worked?
@kc I’m taking that as a, Yep, you’re right.
Running an NCAA football program is in many ways as or more challenging than an NFL team.
Running an NCAA baseball team is probably equivalent to running a single-A team.
“Running an NCAA baseball team is probably equivalent to running a single-A team.”
Not really. Not when you factor in recruiting, transfer portal, academic compliance, summer league coordination, and NIL (at least for larger schools, like the SEC). NFL isn’t quite analogous, but it’s certainly closer than Single-A baseball.
Good point. The question is: how do these skillsets translate to the needed skillsets required to run an MLB team?
I don’t get that analogy. Just because the level of talent is similar to single A, college coaches have to do a lot more. They have to be their own GM. They have to find the players, get them to come to their school, and do that every year, since they’ll only have guys for 4 years max, and some for only have for 2-3 years.
He’s. It proven at the professional level. But worth a shot. I just wouldn’t give him a long contract.
Tennessee baseball would struggle to recover from that.
Certainly and outside-the-box selection by Posey. Even as a Dodger fan, I’m fascinated and hope it pans out.
I hope it pans out so San Francisco can be good again and beat the dodgers
Bring on the competition. MLB needs more good teams, not fewer.
I agree. The Padres deserve a thank you, were it not for them, Dodger bats seemed to be getting too relaxed. Competition breeds greatness. A healthy starting rotation makes this year’s Dodgers so much better than their regular season record.
Great decision. Shame the old school Phillies can’t think outside the box like this under dinosaur Dombrowski
Pretty crazy to complain about one of the best GM/PBO in the baseball.
Not really as he has done little positive over past three years and his only idea is keep doing the same old crap, as indicated by keeping idiot Thomson
Idiot? Really?
So, like a dombrowscasauras or something?
“Great decision..dinosaur Dombrowski”…Do you you mean the same “Dom” that’s taken 4 or 5 different teams to the World Series?
The same “Dom” that was already building championship level baseball teams when you were still dating cheerleaders?
Proof they dated cheerleaders.
I’ll wait.
Lie.
He dated yo mama. Fixed it.
And there you have it, some perfect retorts. Who says indulging in X provides no transferable skills?
Couldn’t hurt…give ’em a shot!
Quite the jump. I hope it works out for him.
Bold move. I like the idea of the league bringing in a fresh perspective. Best of luck to all parties.
Kurt Suzuki would be the perfect hire from a PR standpoint. Dont know his qualifications as a big league manager tho.
Yes so good given his support of the criminal Trump. A great choice for homophobic racists.
Can both of you please stick to baseball? This has the potential to be an excellent thread.
@El Kabong Everything is connected.
Maybe stop watching the idiots at CNN and MsNBC or reading the morons at the New York Times and Politico.
You’re obviously believing somebody’s far leftist, communist crap and it’s making you sound like an imbecile!
Or you just watch the man himself.
That guy is obnoxious as hell. Saw a game a few years ago where UT homered, bat flipped, etc. Next inning an opponent homered and bat flipped. Vitello ran on the field, grabbed the bat and threw it into the opposing team’s dugout.
Funny I don’t see that on the Giants website at all
That’s because this is a rumors site, and this would only make it to the Giants’ website when it’s officially announced by the team. Teams generally don’t comment on rumors and reports.
Buster the Bold. We have gone from his bestie to the young energetic college guy. Ha ha. Buster don’t care what the people may say.
The guy certainly does not behave like a modern day owner. Good for him. Take risks. Break molds. It’s much more entertaining than boring, old, corporate, risk-management tactics.
I shouldn’t be surprised. There’s a history. Sitting out Covid year, retiring with a $20m year still sitting there for him. Buster does Buster.
Giants first rounder from 2025, Gavin Kilen, played at Tennessee.
Just coincidence but interesting. I like going outside the MLB box for a guy like Vitello. And there’s no risk for him as even if he gets fired in a few years the NCAA will be waiting for him. I’d like to see him infuse some energy into the Giants dugout. We need some fire! Give me a Lou Pinella or Billy Martin guy who’s always yelling from the dugout. I swear, Kapler and BoMel looked half awake most of the time.
To be fair, BoMel perked up to a full quarter awake at the postgames!
Also 2023 4th round pick Maui Ahuna, likely Richmond SS next year.
Also the two main guys they got from the Mets in the Rogers trade, Gilbert and Tidwell.
At least now we don’t have to hear people incessantly link them to Bruce Bochy.
At least now..link them to Bruce Bochy”..Not necessarily. This whole Vitello thing could be an intricate smoke screen.
Both Heyman and Verducci are reporting that Bochy is on a private plane, heading to a secret meeting with Posey & other Giants ownership.
Ha ha. Drama ! Are people tracking the plane ?
Bochy might be taking a job in the Giants front office or could he be the new manager’s bench coach? Would he actually do that downward move? If so that would be a super way of grooming a college head coach into MLB!!
This seems strange, but I’ll definitely give Posey credit for going and thinking outside the box.
Some really good college coaches struggled in the NFL and NBA. MLB is not the same as dealing with kids. It will be interesting to see how this goes because it’s either going to open the door for more NCAA coaches in MLB or slam it shut
Tony is a fantastic coach here at Tn. Revitalized a decent program into the most dynamic college baseball team at the collegiate level. His programs are putting out a lot of talent into MLB. The last 2 years something like 30+ players have been drafted with a slew of 1st and 2nd rounders. He is elite here, but, being a manager at MLB level is extremely different. There is less power and less say in managing the team and I wonder if his temperament and ability to adapt and be happy will transfer. In many ways i think he is similar to Saban who achieved greatness and wanted to try the Pro game and found out it did not work for him. Time will tell.
I have been a Giants die hard since the early 70’s and I don’t mind this move. They like the Tennesse program having drafted Kilien and trading for Gilbert. Buster has earned the right to make his choice and in Buster I trust. He got the Chappy deal over the line signed Adames and traded for Devers with more big moves expected. They also have quite a few good prospects in the lower minors so a younger coach may be more desirable than an old retread. Add an experienced bench coach to help out.
Considering that a manager’s job these days is basically to keep a positive clubhouse culture, I’m sure that’s what the Giants see in him. He’s likely a positive energy, camaraderie type guy. As far as managerial decisions go – most decisions are analytical these days, so that’s just a matter of following a system.
“Considering that a managers job these days”…Some interesting insights and very well stated.
I applaud Posey for being willing to change directions and not follow the book. However, I’m expecting the worst here. Nearly every successful university coach had said that the secret to success at the college level is: recruiting, recruiting, recruiting.
There is an opportunity for the Rockies to finish outside of the basement.
This sounds like a good choice! If he can help turn the Giants toward a better direction, I’d bet many Dodger fans would like that, wanting to see the Dodgers-Giants rivalry get going again.
This reads like it was written by an AI bot lol
Maybe we should ask Alexa or Siri.
I find the possible hiring quite exciting actually. All the interviews I’ve heard with Vitello have impressed me. It’s a bold move, and the most important thing about why this could work in SF is that the core of the team has incredible captains and leaders already. Webby, Chapman, and Adames, are going to lead by example, play the game the right way and keep the dugout positive. If it was a roster full of egocentric prima-donnas I don’t think it would work. That a bunch of guys Vitello has coached already like recently acquired like Drew Gilbert, Blade Tidwell, last years 1st rounder Gavin Kilen, plus Maui Ahuna are all in the system I could see those younger players leaving 1000% of it on the field every day for Tony.
Pure speculation, while the SFG have a core in place, there’s also a fair bit of youth coming up in the system. Beyond the high motor, there’s a development aspect that can’t be ignored. More and more it seems prospects get to the MLB not quite the finished products they have been in the past. It was something you could say was a positive with Kapler’s staff
I was wondering how Vitello got on their radar, I blanked on the Kilen connection however did suspect it was via their amateur scout people. Very likely Minasian saw Kilen in person and my understanding it it routine for scouts/front office to have a chat with the player’s coaching staff as part of the due diligence on a player. I wouldn’t doubt that they also asked about Gilbert as part of their scouting of the NYM farm
Vitello brings great energy to the field & strong leadership skills – Giants made a good choice.
@sfjackcoke
Scouting is certainly intricate when it comes to acquiring, signing, and drafting players. It’s not just looking at stats; there’s a human element that comes with that process. It’s the same with making hires. If and when the Giants hire Vitello, it’ll be interesting to learn how and why the hire happened.
I would love to see articles about scouting and how it leads to the finished product that winds up on the MLB playing field. It would probably be fascinating.
This would be in line with Posey’s focus on stressing fundamentals. Be interesting to see what the coaching staff would look like. Whether he would bring some of his guys or they would lean toward guys with pro experience.
If this is the hire, I wonder now if Posey said to himself is this will be better manager than the one, I fired. I also wonder if Posey talked to his star players on this idea.