Tony Vitello Talks New-Look Diamond Vols as Fall Ball Gets Rolling

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Almost four months later, Tony Vitello still remembers the feeling when he stepped off the elevator in Omaha.

What he saw that day, before the Vols’ first game in their first College World Series appearance since 2005, was madness: a sea of Tennessee fans in the team hotel, cheering and going wild as they formed a giant tunnel for the players as they walked to the bus.

“I’m Italian… but I’ve also got some Irish blood in me,” Vitello said Thursday. “The emotional side kind of came out getting off that elevator. That was a shocking deal, tough to compose yourself. In that moment, normally we charge into the bus, I’m the last one, and then we take off. 

“And in that one, for some reason I had the wherewithal to say, ‘Slow down a minute, and soak this in.’”

The moment was one of several worth soaking in last season, as Tennessee baseball’s wild run became the focal point of an otherwise normal summer in Knoxville.

Now, though, fall has arrived. With it comes the start of “fall ball” — the first step to forming a new team, which looks to shed the bad taste from two consecutive losses in Omaha.

Since those few days in Nebraska, Tennessee has undergone a draft-fueled, transfer portal-aided roster overhaul. 

So there is plenty of freshness to go around. 

Heralded new faces (like Chase Burns and Seth Halvorsen), veterans at new positions (Evan Russell at catcher?) and an early approach start the Vols’ 2022 prep with two words from Vitello: “Open season.”

But the Vols’ coach is also looking forward to getting back into Lindsey Nelson Stadium, which, in a full season with full-capacity, could top the “hornet’s nest” environment he described last year.

“I can’t put it into dictionary-type words,” he said Thursday. “But I get a little energy — better than coffee, you bringing that up, let’s put it that way.”

Vitello’s full excitement (and interview) can be seen in the video above.