Former Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello has clarified some of the detail regarding his exit from Knoxville.
As he started his media availability at spring training on Monday, Vitello had a question for reporters in the dugout: “When did you first think I was taking this job?”
After a reporter responded by saying “4 or 5 days before it actually happened,” Vitello took the opportunity to clarify that his decision to leave Tennessee was not made until several days after it was widely reported that he would head to San Francisco.
“Yeah, that’s funny you say that because that was not reality at all,” Vitello said. “I don’t know if Buster (Posey) would feel the same way, but that wasn’t the case. Somebody decides they think they got the information. The final blow was about 4 days later.”
Indeed, reports that Vitello would be the next Giants manager first surfaced on Oct. 18. Four days later, on Oct. 22, the news was confirmed. Vitello also explained that he was seeking assurances on behalf of his assistant coaching staff at Tennessee before accepting the job.
“I needed confirmation from the coaches that I worked with, that helped boost my status, that they were okay with what was gonna go on, and they were going to be okay with their jobs,” Vitello said. “That staff had always been built as next man up, and all of a sudden that was being threatened. So it was kind of hard to do something for yourself, and your teammates get left behind.”
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Vitello also indicated he didn’t appreciate his talks with the Giants becoming public early and said it may have “changed the course of history” if he knew where the leak came from before taking the job.
Here’s video of Vitello’s comments:
Tennessee ultimately chose to promote Josh Elander as head baseball coach following Vitello’s exit. The Vols opened the Elander era over the weekend by sweeping Nicholls in a 3-game set.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
