Tennessee baseball reportedly set to interview coach with Omaha experience
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Tennessee baseball has already begun the process of trying to replace coach Tony Vitello, who accepted the manager job for the San Francisco Giants earlier this week.
Whoever replaces Vitello will have big shoes to fill — Vitello led the Vols to their first-ever College World Series Championship in 2024 and brought Tennessee to Omaha in 3 of the last 5 seasons.
While the search is expected to continue for some time, Knox News’ Mike Wilson is reporting that Coastal Carolina coach Kevin Schnall is set to interview for the vacancy on Friday. Schnall just wrapped up his first season as Coastal’s head coach in 2025. He brought the Chanticleers to the College World Series in his first season at the helm.
Coastal made it all the way to the championship series this summer before ultimately falling to LSU. Schnall also made headlines during the NCAA Tournament this year when he called out Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan for what he termed as ‘disrespectful’ behavior during the Conway Regional.
Schnall was also a long-time Coastal Carolina assistant prior to taking over as head coach after the 2024 season. He was the program’s associate head coach when the Chanticleers won the national championship back in 2016.
Schanll also has ties to Tennessee athletic director Danny White. Schnall was an assistant at Central Florida from 2013-15 before moving to Coastal Carolina, his alma mater. White was hired as UCF’s athletic director in November of 2015 and remained there until Tennessee hired him in 2021.
Frank Anderson has been named Tennessee’s interim head coach.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
