Tony Vitello Pokes Fun at Ole Miss Football's Lane Kiffin in Goodbye to Tennessee

Tennessee Volunteers head baseball coach Tony Vitello shocked the college baseball world when he accepted the offer to become the next manager of the San Francisco Giants.

Vitello will now become the first collegiate head coach to make the jump to the Major Leagues after deciding to depart Knoxville and hit the road to California.

On Friday, Vitello released a lengthy statement where he poked some fun at Ole Miss head football coach Lane Kiffin, who infamously left Tennessee following the 2009 season — his first and only year in Knoxville — to take over as the head coach with the USC Trojans.

“It was selfish. It was personal reasons. Again, I’ve always tried to be a good teammate, but I feel like I made a selfish decision that was one I needed to make,” Vitello said in his statement.

“It’s the right decision and I just hope it doesn’t give me Lane Kiffin status around here, because I feel like I’m a VFL. I think if someone truly invests in being a VFL for any amount of time, they’re just that — a Vol For Life. That’s what I am in my mind.”

Tony Vitello. — Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello during game one of the NCAA baseball tournament Fayetteville Super Regional between Tennessee and Arkansas held at Baum-Walker Stadium on Saturday, June 7, 2025. | Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It's been 15 years since Kiffin departed Knoxville, but the Ole Miss decision-maker remains a villain to Tennessee Volunteer fans with time not healing the wound.

College football icon Ed Orgeron - who was on staff with Kiffin at Tennessee - spoke with On3 Sports' Andy & Ari where he believes the Volunteers would have won the SEC had Kiffin stayed.

“We would have won the SEC for sure,” Orgeron said via Andy & Ari On3. “He was doing a great job. He was bringing great players in there. Look, I love Knoxville. What a football town, what a great stadium.

"And the recruiting that we were doing and the staff that he had was phenomenal. Now, it would’ve been like the Wild, Wild West. There were a lot of things going on. But Lane is a great coach and I’m glad he’s doing well.”

Ole Miss Rebels Football: Lane Kiffin. — Courtesy of Ole Miss Rebels Football.

Now, Kiffin remains the shot-caller in Oxford with the Ole Miss Rebels sitting as the No. 8 ranked team in America with the program firmly in the College Football Playoff race.

More Ole Miss News:

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Report: Ole Miss Football's Lane Kiffin a ‘Top Candidate' for Florida Gators Job

Paul Finebaum Predicts Ole Miss Football's Lane Kiffin Would Win Title With Florida

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