Tennessee baseball players go nuts after learning of Josh Elander’s promotion
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Tennessee baseball on Saturday made it official: Josh Elander is the program’s new head coach, following Tony Vitello’s hiring as the manager of the San Francisco Giants.
Elander helped build one of the top baseball programs in the country, serving as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator from 2018 to 2022 before being promoted to associate head coach duties. He now takes the reins of a Tennessee team that won its first-ever College World Series in 2024 after logging two prior appearances in Omaha in 2021 and 2023.
Rather than look outside the university, AD Danny White chose to promote Elander as he’s now the 26th head baseball coach in Vols history. White met with the team on Saturday to announce the news, and as you can see below, they were elated.
“I’m just so excited to keep this show going,” Elander said. “We got winners in this room. We got different pieces (and) good people. Let’s go win a hell of a lot of ball games. That’s where I’m at now.”
Elander’s first game in charge will be on Feb. 27 as Tennessee faces UCLA as part of the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series in Arlington, Texas. The Vols’ conference-opening series will be Mar. 13-15 at Georgia.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
