I was there in 2018 when Tony Vitello’s first Tennessee baseball team lost to Middle Tennessee State in 12 innings and, a week later, fell to East Tennessee State.

Both at home.

Not a very auspicious beginning to what proved to be a remarkable eight-year stint at the Volunteers’ helm.

I knew Vitello before he was Tony Vitello, national championship coach/rock star.

He was as normal a guy as a coach could be. However, even at 29-27 overall and 12-18 in the Southeastern Conference that first season, he still had a swagger about him. Tennessee was his first stop as a head coach, so he had no valid reason to have a swagger.

He just believed. He believed in his recipe for success in college baseball — recruiting and hard work, and a whole bunch of luck. He believed he could facilitate both of those, while hoping for the luck.

And he did. 

Skeptics won’t bother Vitello

When Tennessee won the College World Series championship in 2024, it a validation of the work he and his team had put in and the belief Vitello had in himself.

Vitello will take that swagger to the Big Leagues to become the first college coach to move directly into a Major League Baseball managerial role with the San Francisco Giants.

That’s not to say it’s going to be easy. Having never played nor coached at any professional level, there will be skeptics internally and externally. But, if history is any indication of what will happen, the 47-year-old Vitello will stay tunnel-visioned and maintain his swagger. 

He’ll just have better talent around him while making his decisions.

Tony will do well at the Big League level. The personality that became endearing in Knoxville should be contagious in the Bay Area. The scrutiny might be an adjustment at first — nobody in Knoxville would second-guess a pitching change like they will in ‘Frisco — but count on him to totally believe in the decisions he makes.

Tennessee will attract top candidates

When a guy makes the move from college to The Show, that’s a compliment to the college.

As for Tennessee, don’t feel sorry for the Vols. John Currie, athletic director at Tennessee in 2017, saw something he liked to Vitello when he hired the Arkansas assistant. Recruiting and player development were what Vitello did best in Fayetteville. Those strengths did wonders for him in Knoxville.

Vitello changed the Tennessee program from a struggling operation with plenty of potential to one of the best jobs in the sport. He came in making $493,000 a year and left at $3 million.

The next leader of the program won’t have to be such a risk. Such an attractive program will be sought by some of the most proven leaders.

Count on athletic director Danny White to find the right fit. He hit home runs with football coach Josh Heupel and women’s basketball coach Kim Caldwell. 

Filling this vacancy should be easier than football or women’s basketball. Those programs were down. Baseball is still riding a wave of success.

All it takes is a little swagger and a lot of belief.