University of Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello has emerged as the favorite to take the managerial job with the San Francisco Giants, and a decision on a potential deal is expected in the next 24 to 72 hours, sources told ESPN on Saturday, confirming multiple reports.
If the parties agree on a contract, Vitello will become the first manager in major league history to go directly from a college program to the big leagues without having previously worked in a professional organization.
Vitello, 47, led Tennessee to the College World Series title in 2024 and is considered one of the best coaches in college baseball. He replaces Bob Melvin, who was fired Sept. 29 after the 81-81 season, the Giants' fourth straight season without a playoff appearance.
San Francisco baseball president Buster Posey considered several candidates for the manager's job, including former Giants catcher Nick Hundley and a pair of other former major league catchers, Kurt Suzuki and Vance Wilson. Instead, the Giants focused their interest on Vitello, who has established himself as one of the preeminent recruiters and talent developers in the country during a two-decade career as an assistant and head coach in college.
The buyout from his Tennessee deal is $3 million, which is equivalent to his annual salary, sources said.
The transition from college to professional baseball is rare, although not unprecedented. Milwaukee Brewers Manager Pat Murphy spent 25 years as a college coach before joining the team. San Diego Padreswhich he managed in the minor leagues. Murphy then spent eight years as the Brewers' bench coach before taking over as manager in 2024, when he was named National League Manager of the Year.
Vitello's transition to the big leagues will happen much faster. He will inherit a Giants team competing in a loaded National League West against the division winner. Los Angeles Dodgers earning a berth in the World Series on Friday night. San Francisco returns first baseman core Rafael Deversbuddy Willy Adames and third baseman Matt Chapmanand is expected to be active as a free agent this winter, sources said.
After more than 10 years as an assistant coach at Missouri, TCU and Arkansas, Vitello took over a moribund Tennessee program before the 2018 season and compiled a 341-131 record, advancing to the College World Series in 2021, 2023 and 2024. With a pair of possible first-round picks and four second-round picks, Tennessee beat Texas A&M to win the school's first national baseball championship in 2024.
Vitello, whose boisterous personality endeared him at Tennessee and irritated other SEC schools, has entered a different realm in MLB. While college jobs are often determined by the success of recruiting classes, major league teams are built by baseball operations departments, with the manager depending on club cohesion, in-game decision making, use of the bullpen and daily interaction with the media.
MLB teams' reluctance to enter the college ranks as managers has long been ingrained and runs counter to the hiring practices of other professional sports leagues. NFL teams regularly select head coaches from the college ranks, and there is no stigma associated with college coaches in the NBA. The closest thing to Vitello's hiring came in 2019, when pitching coach Wes Johnson left the University of Arkansas to take on the same role with the team Minnesota Twins. Johnson left the Twins in 2022 to take the pitching coach job at LSU before joining Georgia as head coach a year later.
Vitello's philosophy on the game and personality intrigued Posey and aligned with what the future Hall of Famer hopes to build in San Francisco, sources said. IN ESPN interview Vitello said in June that his reputation as a rabble-rouser did not bother him and that he had no plans to change his approach to coaching, which requires pushing boundaries.
“I think you don't know where the line is until you cross it. And then you make adjustments,” Vitello said. “I don’t want our kids, if they give them a coloring book, I don’t want them to just color inside the lines. You know, come up with something else.”
