Tony Vitello - Head Baseball Coach, University of Tennessee

topics:success, player recruitment, portal, select baseball & high school, player character with talent and more...Since taking over on Rocky Top, Vitello has led the Big Orange back to national prominence and has helped establish Tennessee baseball as an SEC and national power, leading the program to its first ever National Championship in 2024 as well as six NCAA regional appearances (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025), five NCAA super regionals (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025) and a trio of Men's College World Series appearances (2021, 2023, 2024).A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Vitello arrived at UT following four seasons as assistant coach/recruiting coordinator at Arkansas. His rise to the head coaching ranks also included stops at Missouri (his alma mater) and TCU. He has earned a reputation as one of the elite recruiters on the college baseball landscape, having assembled 14 top-15 signing classes--including America's top-rated crop of talent in 2014 and 2024.During a full-time, Division I coaching career spanning 22 years, Vitello has signed and developed 16 first-round MLB Draft picks and a handful of players who have gone on to play in Major League Baseball, including nine during his time at UT in Garrett Crochet, Ben Joyce, Andre Lipcius, Trey Lipscomb, Jordan Beck, Seth Halvorsen, Chase Dollander, Blade Tidwell and Christian Moore. Other notable MLB players coached by Vitello include Brandon Finnegan, Kyle Gibson, All-Star Aaron Crow, Gold Glove Award winner and All-Star Andrew Benintendi, Gold Glove Award winner and four-time All-Star Ian Kinsler and five-time All-Star and three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer.Vitello, who has earned six National Coach of the Year honors over three different seasons at Tennessee, has recruited and developed 10 first-round picks during his tenure with the Vols, including an NCAA-leading and program-record four first rounders in the 2025 MLB Draft, led by the No. 5 overall pick in pitcher Liam Doyle. Crochet, who was selected with the 11th overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft and became the first player to go from the draft to the big leagues without playing in the minors since Mike Leake did so with the Reds in 2010. UT has had at least two players drafted in the first round in three of the past four seasons (2022, 2024, 2025).Tennessee has had 52 players drafted since 2018 when Vitello took over as head coach, averaging 6.5 picks per year. Since 2021, the Vols' 42 total draft picks lead the nation.