Former Tennessee Coach Tony Vitello Starts MLB Career on the Wrong Foot

Tony Vitello and the San Francisco Giants have started their season off on the wrong foot.

Mar 27, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello (23) stands in the dugout during the seventh inning against the New York Yankees at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Tony Vitello has completed his first three-game series in the MLB, and it didn't go as planned. He is one of the greatest college coaches of all time, but despite having early success in the NCAA, that has not been the case to start his career as a manager.

Tennessee's former head coach left the program to become the first-ever college coach to jump to become a manager in the MLB without having any prior coaching experience. He has now completed three games with his San Francisco Giants, inside their home stadium, but none of the three games went as planned. In fact, the Giants fell short of the mark in all three games, as they lost the series in 0-3 fashion.

More About Tony Vitello's First College Series

Mar 2, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello against the Chicago White Sox during a spring training game at Camelback Ranch-Glendale. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Vitello's first series was against the New York Yankees, which ended in what would be a disastrous series. The first game highlighted a 7-0 defeat, while in the second game, the Giants were held scoreless yet again. The third game of the series concluded on Saturday night, as the Giants were only able to get one run across in a game that ended in a 3-1 final. The star of the series was Aaron Judge for the Yankees, as he finished with two home runs hit, which was the story, as he was either a strikeout or home run batter in almost every at-bat this series.

While things could have gone better for the former Tennessee baseball coach, it is important to note that the typical MLB season is a bare minimum of 162 games, as each team will play that amount of regular-season games. Three losses back-to-back can be a red flag in the beginning portion of the season, but fans must remember that this is a marathon and not a sprint. This was one of the concerns that many mentioned when the Giants decided to add Vitello as their manager, but the season is still young, and he can still prove the haters wrong.

Vitello and the San Francisco Giants will need to get their ducks in a row, as they are set to travel for their next series. The Giants will return to action when they take on the San Diego Padres in a major three-game series. This will be the best chance for the talented coach/manager to redeem himself, as they will later follow that up with games against the New York Mets.