KNOXVILLE – Tennessee turned the page this season on a frustrating chapter of its baseball history, returning to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 14 years.
The achievement coaxed athletic director Phillip Fulmer into quickly considering the program’s future with respect to coach Tony Vitello. He responded accordingly.
Tennessee announced on Wednesday that Vitello has agreed to a contract extension through June of 2024.
Vitello’s annual salary will increase to $580,000 next season and rise to $650,000 by the end of the agreement.
Former Vol All-American Chris Burke, who’s working the College World Series for ESPN, lauded the contract extension on Twitter and also said, “Much needed facility upgrades are coming too.”
Vitello, a first-time head coach who was hired by former AD John Currie, has revived Tennessee in just two seasons, recording 69 victories. The Vols won 40 games this season for the first time since their last NCAA appearance in 2005. Even the relatively modest 29 victories of Vitello’s first season in 2018 amounted to the most by a first-year coach in UT baseball history.
The Vols won two games at the Chapel Hill (N.C) regional before their season ended with a 5-2 loss to host North Carolina.
Fulmer attended the regional with a group of donors and former players. He spoke with John Wilkerson, the voice of Tennessee baseball, during a Vol Network broadcast and was bullish about the sport’s future.
“Tennessee baseball has a bright future,” he said.
Fulmer echoed that sentiment in the university release announcing Vitello’s extension.
“Impressive doesn’t begin to describe the job Tony has done with our baseball program these past two seasons,” Fulmer said. “I believe we have in Coach Vitello one of the nation’s brightest young head coaches.
“From managing the game to player development, to recruiting and relating to today’s student athletes, Tony has a firm grasp on all aspects of leading a major program. He’s surrounded himself with an outstanding staff and we are going to support them as Tennessee baseball continues to climb.”
Vitello came to Tennessee after serving four years as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Arkansas. Pitcher Garrett Stallings, one of six Vols chosen in Major League Baseball’s annual draft earlier this month, assessed Vitello’s influence on UT’s resurgence in terms of preparation. He framed his perspective with the typical routine of practice, scouting reports and video sessions. But he also mentioned the not-so-typical practice of Vitello stressing the need to be relaxed as well as focused.
“Preparation allows for more comfort,” Stallings said.
With comfort came confidence and the players assuming more responsibility for the team’s identity. Stallings characterized the development as a vital step in a productive process.
“With a championship-type team, the players are the ones who take it over,” Stallings said. “Kind of let the coach set in the background and let the players take it to the next level.”
Vitello alluded to this evolution after the season-ending loss to North Carolina, when he spoke of the team’s personality emerging this season and how significant that was.
“You want a team to stand out,” he said. “You don’t want them to blend in with all the others as you get old.”
In the same postgame interview, Vitello looked ahead and said the Vols “have some improving to do – starting with myself.”
In his case, a contract extension lines up squarely on his side.
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Dan Fleser is a 1980 graduate of the University of Missouri who covered University of Tennessee athletics for the Knoxville News Sentinel from 1988-2019. He can be reached at danfleser3@gmail.com