Giants go back to school, hire Vols’ Tony Vitello as new manager

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The San Francisco Giants made an unprecedented commitment Wednesday when they hired Tennessee coach Tony Vitello as their new manager.

It will be the first time an MLB team has hired a manager directly from a college program with no experience in the professional ranks.

Multiple reports had expanded on the growing interest in Vitello over the weekend. San Francisco president of baseball operations Buster Posey, who moved into his current post in September of last year, decided on Vitello over candidates that included Nick Hundley, Skip Schumaker and former manager Bruce Bochy, who was eliminated from consideration early in the process.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Tony to the Giants family,” Posey said in a team news release. “Tony is one of the brightest, most innovative and most respected coaches in college baseball today. Throughout our search, Tony’s leadership, competitiveness and commitment to developing players stood out.”

Vitello, 47, owned a 341-131 record in his eight seasons with the Volunteers, guiding the program to the College World Series in 2021, 2023 and 2024. Tennessee won the first national championship in program history in 2024.

“I’m incredibly honored and grateful for this opportunity,” Vitello said. “I’m excited to lead this group of players and represent the San Francisco Giants. I can’t wait to get started and work to establish a culture that makes Giants faithful proud.”

The Giants fired Bob Melvin on Sept. 29 after two seasons as the club’s manager. Melvin posted an 81-81 record in 2025, which marked a one-win improvement from 2024.

San Francisco finished third in the National League West in 2025, 12 games behind the division-winning Los Angeles Dodgers and nine back of the playoff-bound San Diego Padres. They were two games out of the NL’s final wild-card spot.

–Field Level Media