3:15pm: According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, a decision on whether Vitello will be the Giants’ next head coach is expected to be made within the next 24 to 72 hours. Passan added that while Vitello is “Highest goal” As of now, the two parties in San Francisco have not reached an agreement.
1:56 PM: The Giants’ front office search appears to be nearing completion, with a surprising name emerging from the college ranks. The Athletic’s Andrew Bagali, Brittany Giroli and Ken Rosenthal report that “the Giants are close to hiring” University of Tennessee head coach Tony Vitlow as their next captain. Vitello told The Athletic via text message, “Nothing to confirmThe Giants also did not comment on the report.
Vitlow, 47, served as an assistant baseball coach at Missouri (his alma mater), TCU and Arkansas from 2003 to 2017 before being hired for the top job at Tennessee in June 2017. The Volunteers have since become an elite team, compiling a 341-131 record under Vitlow and winning their first NCAA national baseball championship in 2024. In addition to the College World Series victory, the Vols have reached the point where they have won two World Series championships in 2021 and 2023, and two SEC regular season and tournament championships in 2022 and 2024.
However, aside from his stellar record in NCAA baseball, Vitello has no experience as a professional baseball player, coach or manager. There have been some examples in recent years of teams taking the initiative to hire college coaches or assistants on major league coaching staffs, but hiring a manager without any MLB organizational experience is simply not enough. Brewers captain Pat Murphy is a notable example of a current head coach with extensive college head coaching experience, but as Bagley/Giroli/Rosenthal point out, Murphy spent many years as a minor league head coach and major league bench coach (not to mention serving as the Padres’ interim head coach) between his NCAA job and Brewers management job.
Vitello’s name didn’t pop up out of the blue; Bagley had mentioned him as a possible managerial candidate less than three weeks ago when rumors were swirling that Bob Melvin was leaving San Francisco. Bagley believes the Giants will be looking for “a dynamic young manager” as Melvin’s replacement, and the names associated with the team’s managerial search generally fit that description. Former Orioles manager Brandon Hyde and Royals third base coach Vance Wilson Both are 52 years old, both are former catchers. Kurt Suzuki and Nick Hendry Both are 42 years old.
Regarding Hundley, The Athletic noted that he is now “expected to remain in Texas” as a special assistant to president of baseball operations Chris Young. Past reports have suggested Hundley was a serious candidate and likely the frontrunner for the San Francisco job, but Hundley will remain with the Rangers for now. It’s unclear if the Giants simply preferred Vitlow, or if Hundley may have dropped out of the running, as he did in 2023 when he was considered a candidate for the Giants’ final managerial vacancy.
Assuming Vitello does end up in San Francisco, it would be a bold move for both the coach and the Giants. As the Athletic Trio puts it, Vitello will be “leaving his comfortable territory for a job that offers nothing but stability.” From the President of Baseball Operations Perspective Buster PoseyReplacing Melvin, a three-time MLB Manager of the Year, with someone completely unfamiliar with professional baseball would be a huge change for Posey, who is managing a staff for the first time since taking over the Giants’ front office a year ago.
The Giants’ 107-win season in 2021 marked the team’s only playoff appearance with a winning record in the past nine years, while San Francisco’s next best were 81-81 records in 2022 and 2025. After making some big long-term acquisitions, a .500 record this season wasn’t enough for Posey (Matt Chapman, Willie Adams, Raphael Devers) Melvin’s firing last year was the latest step in Posey’s desire to fully put his own stamp on the team’s operations.
There will be no shortage of intriguing subplots to Vitlow’s hiring, the most pressing being how a college coach’s playbook translates to motivating and leading a veteran major leaguer on the clubhouse floor. Vitello’s NCAA credentials are as good as anyone’s, but as we’ve seen countless times in the NFL, NBA, or NHL, coaching the pro game is much different than succeeding on the college level. The Giants have had trouble attracting top free agents in the past, and it’s worth pondering how the addition of Vitello will impact those pursuits — will free agents be reluctant to play under inexperienced coaches, or will Vitello’s recruiting methods work equally well with major leaguers and blue-chip college prospects?
