Former Tennessee Baseball Player Laughs at the Thought of Potential Coaching Hire

The Tennessee Vols baseball player shared a brutally honest reaction to a possible coaching candidate

Tennessee catcher Evan Russell catches a pitch during the NCAA Baseball Tournament Knoxville Regional between the Tennessee Volunteers and Campbell Fighting Camels held at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Saturday, June 4, 2022. Utvcampbell0604 1880 | Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Tennessee Volunteers have the chance to be one of the better baseball teams this season, but their hopes of being as good as they could've been were put to rest momentarily following some news that was released that the Vols would be without their head baseball coach, as he accepted another job.

He accepted the San Francisco Giants job, which makes him the first college coach with zero experience in the MLB to jump up from the college level and directly take a manager job.

This has left the Vols with no choice but to search for a new coaching candidate. One of the first people who has been named is the College World Series runner-up, Kevin Schnall. Schnall is the Coastal Carolina baseball coach, who recently signed an extension with the program, but the Vols could get him out of this with a buyout.

Schnall is reportedly set to take an interview with the Vols, as the Vols are expected to host the interview on Friday.

Fans were quick to show their reactions, including one of their past players. That player being Evan Russell. Russell didn't have the exact reaction that you would expect. Here is how he reacted.

Evan Russell's Reaction

Tennessee catcher/outfielder Evan Russell (6) swings during a game at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Friday, April 15, 2022. Kns Vols Baseball Alabama | Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

😂😂😂 https://t.co/oiBLUii6Q3

— Evan Russell (@EvanRussell_4) October 24, 2025

This is likely due to the high demand of former players wanting Josh Elander to receive the promotion. He is expected to be a candidate, as Frank Anderson acts as the interim head baseball coach for the Tennessee Vols baseball program. This is something that Danny White talked about. White talked about why Elander wasn't named as the interim coach, and how he wants Elander to be a candidate.

"Yeah, a combination of factors. Frank's obviously been a head coach, but probably more importantly, as quickly as I'd like to move, I'd like Josh to build focus on his candidacy. And he's kind of in the middle of all this, too. Up until this morning, the entire staff didn't know the decision that Tony was going to make. So, he's been focused on recruiting and coaching our players. We have an incoming class. There's a lot going on. And I didn't want to throw this on them now, while also maybe treating an interview as an afterthought. I want to be able to focus on the interview process."

He then would discuss if there is anything he is looking for specifically out of these coaches.

"Nothing specific. The first data point for me will be hearing more directly from that leadership group of student athletes, what they're experiencing right now. A lot of times, when you go into a coaching search, it's because the team isn't having the kind of success you want to have, so how do we make things better? But we're obviously 18 months removed from a national championship and just lost our coach to the big leagues for the first time in the history of college baseball. So, we have a positive momentum and a good thing going, but I still want to hear their perspective and learn from that, and then go into the process. But, I don't have anything in particular."

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