How Coach Tony Vitello has won more than a national championship and now finds the Volunteer State his home
Story by Amber Weaver
Photographs by Robin Conover
Anthony Gregory Vitello hasn’t always bled orange and sang “Rocky Top” at the top of his lungs with the best of Tennessee Vols fans, but he has always had a love for baseball. Growing up seven hours away from Knoxville, he was raised with a passion for family, competition and work ethic — all qualities that are easily seen in him today on and off the field.
You know him better now as Coach Tony Vitello, the head baseball coach at the University of Tennessee who led the team to the school’s first ever national championship at the 2024 NCAA Men’s College World Series. As fulfilling as the accomplishment was for Coach Vitello, it means just as much to him now to find a sense of belonging in the Volunteer State.
“It feels like this is home now,” Vitello said. “I have been well embraced since Day 1, and it has continued to grow in strength. It has always been my goal to be considered a Tennessean, and I am proud to be at that point.”
Wish that I was on ol’ Rocky Top
Vitello was raised in St. Louis, Missouri, surrounded by family. To no surprise, the Vitello family was encompassed by sports. Vitello’s father, Greg, is a hall of fame soccer and baseball coach for more than four decades, and he shared those pastimes with his son at a young age.
“My dad and I played catch a lot in the front yard,” Vitello said. “I believe baseball was the first sport I started playing, and it was the last one I finished playing. I started it early, loved it so much and was consistently doing it. I couldn’t wait to share that passion with others.”
“It has always been my goal to be considered a Tennessean, and I am proud to be at that point.”
Before Vitello became a national championship winning coach, he was an infielder himself. He played at De Smet Jesuit High School and then later for the University of Missouri where he was a three-year letterwinner, earned Academic All-Big 12 Conference honors as a senior and was named to the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll twice. After completing his management degree, he pursued a master’s degree in business while at the same time kicking off his coaching career at Mizzou in 2003.
From there, Coach Vitello served as assistant coach for Texas Christian University and the University of Arkansas. Over the course of nearly 15 years, he had some of the most competitive teams made up of the top players around the nation. The bar was set high for Coach Vitello’s career, and it was about to reach new heights when he accepted the head coach position in 2017 for the Tennessee Volunteers.
Sweet as soda pop — I still dream about that
Five NCAA Regional Tournament appearances, four NCAA Super Regional Tournament appearances, three SEC Eastern Division Titles, four SEC Championships, three College World Series appearances in the last four seasons and, of course, the first ever national championship win are a quick summary of the incredible success the Volunteers have had with Coach Vitello at the helm.
“The national championship win still hasn’t fully sunk in,” Vitello said.
Needless to say, Coach Vitello is beyond proud of what’s been accomplished so far at Lindsey Nelson Stadium and has every intention of keeping the momentum going. So far, this season is shaping up to be another one for the record books, and Coach Vitello calls the progress from August both encouraging and significant. Most importantly, though, he wants the 2025 team to become their own.
“I think this team is ahead of the curve as far as celebrating and recognizing the value of all the things that went on last year,” Vitello said. “We are using some of the blueprint from 2024, yet we are writing our own story. We’re carving out our own niche and finding our own personality for the 2025 team.”
Home sweet home to me
While the triumph has caught the nation’s eye, it’s how Coach Vitello truly embodies the Volunteer spirit and has invested in so many players to help them reach their loftiest dreams — like record MLB draft picks — that has won him the first ever True Tennessean award presented by the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association.
“To be honest with you, it was just as surreal as winning a national championship,” Vitello said of becoming the inaugural honoree. “It was the first indicator of cementing a place here and truly starting to fit in. I think both the national championship and the award have allowed me to believe that this is home. This is a place where you can achieve anything as an individual or as a team that you can dream up.”
The support has also made other coaches who are not originally from Tennessee, like Josh Heupel in football and Kim Caldwell in women’s basketball, feel like they belong here too. Vitello says its affirmation that they were all right in their decisions to make their moves to Knoxville.
“We were right in our estimation that this is a place where you can sustain success in any sport,” Vitello said. “The ingredients are there with the great city, the great university, the best fan base in the country and an administration that’s supportive of what we’re doing. All we have to do is put in the work.”
Good ol’ Rocky Top
Aside from wins and awards, Coach Vitello has created a community of Tennessee baseball fans like none other. When he first arrived at Rocky Top, he dove headfirst and immersed himself in everything Tennessee — especially the people.
“I think immediately I just tried to get out and meet the people,” Vitello said. “You can study in a classroom what the state capital is, what the bigger cities are and what’s the landscape, but really what makes a place is the people.”
“We are using some of the blueprint from 2024, yet we are writing our own story. We’re carving out our own niche and finding our own personality for the 2025 team.”
Coach Vitello visited with and fell in love with the community and fan base so much that now he feels bad that he can’t attend every event the university has to offer. What he did learn, though, during that time of fellowship is that Tennessee fans and players have always had national championship winning behavior.
“This marriage between our fan base and our players that represent the program is very unique,” Vitello said. “I stress every day because it’s so good that I don’t want it to go away. I want to keep cultivating it, which means I have to stay true to my roots. We can’t lose that work ethic, and it is a challenge every day because it’s not something that comes easy. We’re still accumulating new fans, and I’m determined to keep the ones we have on board.”
To the ones who are already singing “Home Sweet Home to Me” in the stands, Coach Vitello wants to continue to make screaming “Go Big Orange” worthwhile, but he also wants to congratulate you.
“Congratulations to each of you because you act like you are one of the teammates,” Vitello said. “So many fans have said congrats to us, but every time, I want to say congrats back to them because in 2024, we couldn’t have done it without you. You were the national champions. Just like our team needs to earn that success every day, I promise I will be working hard to make all of you proud to be a Tennessee Vol.”
