Last week Tennessee’s head baseball coach Tony Vitello received not only a contract extension but also a sizeable raise after he led the Vols to a 50-18 record to go along with hosting a Regional and Super Regional and making their first appearance in the College World Series since 2005.
According to reports Vitello’s contract will be extended until June 2026 and his raise will be up to $1.5M which makes him one of the highest-paid head coaches in the country when it comes to college baseball.
This is a HUGE step for Tennessee baseball as they look to build consistency within a program that hasn’t seen a lot of consistency since Rod Delmonico who led the program for 18 years (1990-2007). Even though Vitello has only been here for four seasons the fact that Athletic Director Danny White is willing to dedicate that type of money and years to the Vols head baseball coach just shows you that this University is serious about contending year-to-year.
Vitello is young (42) and energetic as displayed by Drew Gilbert’s walk-off grand-slam against Wright State in the opening game of the Regional in which you’ll see him bolt out of the dugout and run down the right-field line in pure jubilation.
It only took 40 minutes, but finally, here's the broadcast video of Drew Gilbert's walk-off pic.twitter.com/2ZR4hwdzQz
— Teddy Cahill (@tedcahill) June 5, 2021
How could you not want to play for a man who clearly cares so much about the success of his kids yet has a level head approach and tries not to get too high or too low based on whatever happens throughout the season.
In addition, he’s already proven that he’s more than a capable recruiter, according to Perfect Game, Tennessee’s 2021 recruiting class ranked 6th in the country and 5th in the SEC. They’re also currently ranked 10th in the nation in recruiting class for 2022 and they ranked 6th in the SEC.
This should be a fun program to watch and follow for the foreseeable future with Vitello at the helm.
For all of my inner sports thoughts and to keep up with everything I’m doing around the Chattanooga area follow along on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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