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What Danny White said about Tony Vitello leaving Tennessee baseball for Giants manager job
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- What Danny White said about Tony Vitello leaving Tennessee baseball for Giants manager job
Tennessee athletics director Danny White congratulated Tony Vitello on his historic move to become the manager of the San Francisco Giants on Oct. 22 and thanked him for his work to make Tennessee baseball an elite program.
"Congratulations to Tony on this incredible opportunity to lead the San Francisco Giants ," White said in a school release. "We wish him the best as he embarks on this new chapter in his career and thank him for everything he has done to transform Tennessee baseball into a championship program. The growth of baseball on Rocky Top has been remarkable, culminating in the 2024 National Championship. We are committed to continuously investing in the program at a championship level across all areas. Furthermore, the upcoming $109 million renovation of Lindsey Nelson Stadium will transform it into one of the premier baseball venues, providing an exceptional experience for the best fans in all of sports.
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"Our focus is on our players and coaching staff while finalizing the next steps in this evolving process."
Vitello led Tennessee to the best era in its history with three trips to the College World Series and winning the 2024 national title. He also coached Tennessee to two SEC regular-season titles and two SEC Tournament titles, sweeping the crowns in both 2022 and 2024 in his historic tenure. The Vols have reached five straight super regionals.
The St. Louis native went 341–131 in eight seasons at Tennessee.
He was hired in June 2017 to take over a long-struggling Tennessee program. The former Arkansas hitting coach vaulted the Vols into relevance and made the program a postseason regular. He got UT back to the NCAA Tournament in 2019 for the first time since 2005.
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He led them to Omaha in 2021, their first trip since 2005. The Vols won 57 games in 2022 with a team laden with future big leaguers. He got Tennessee back to Omaha in 2023 then won it all in 2024.
Tennessee ripped through the SEC, winning the regular-season title and the tournament title to earn the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. It reached the CWS , where it rolled to the finals with three straight wins. It beat Texas A&M in the three-game finals to win the national championship and become the first team in SEC history to win 60 games.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on X @ ByMikeWilson . If you enjoy Mike's coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: What Danny White said about Tony Vitello leaving Tennessee for Giants
