Dave Van Horn, Tony Vitello react to vote on 3rd assistant for college baseball failing to pass
By Andrew Olson
Published:
A proposal to allow NCAA baseball and softball programs to add a third paid assistant coach was voted down this week. The SEC led the proposal and had support from the ACC, Conference USA and others, but faced opposition from the Big Ten and the Big 12. The current arrangement allows for two paid full-time assistants and a volunteer coach.
Coaches around the country were asked for their reaction to the news. Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn expressed disappointment and explained how the players are being hurt as coaches are stretched too thin with the time required for both recruiting and teaching.
Tennessee’s Tony Vitello made many of the same points as Van Horn. In a clip shared to Twitter by Marshall Hughes of WATE, Vitello goes into detail why multiple changes need to be made in college baseball when it comes to scholarships and number of assistant coaches. The UT coach argues that baseball requires the most on-the-field time of any of the NCAA sports.
Tennessee Baseball coach Tony Vitello did not hold back last week when he was asked about the proposal to allow college baseball and softball programs the option to pay a third assistant coach. The NCAA voted against it today. pic.twitter.com/awJwdhFc3p
— Marshall Hughes (@marshallhughes) April 20, 2019
D1Baseball has more on the conference politics behind the voting.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
