Giants Hire Tennessee's Tony Vitello as Next Manager

In their push to return to the top of professional baseball, the San Francisco Giants are going to school.

The San Francisco Giants have announced Tennessee coach Tony Vitello as the next manager of the franchise, marking a groundbreaking move for the Giants and Major League Baseball.

OFFICIAL: It’s Tony Vitello time ✍️ pic.twitter.com/PG5pvQwLYu
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) October 22, 2025

Vitello, 47, will become the first Major League manager to step directly into the role with no prior professional coaching experience.

He was chosen over former Baltimore Orioles manager Brandon Hyde and two other former big league catchers the Giants interviewed — Kurt Suzuki, now managing the Los Angeles Angels, and Vance Wilson. Nick Hundley, a former teammate of Posey’s in San Francisco, was considered the early front-runner before withdrawing his name from consideration due to family reasons, according to The Athletic.

The Giants have adopted a noticeably more aggressive approach since Buster Posey assumed control as president of baseball operations. The club made a biggest splash in free agency by signing Willy Adames to the largest contract in franchise history and followed it up at the trade deadline by acquiring All-Star Rafael Devers.

If those were big swings, this would be the equivalent of Posey trying to send a baseball over the Coca-Cola bottle in his playing days.

This decision is everything the Giants weren’t before Posey took over — brash, loud, fast-moving, unapologetically ambitious. It’s a move that mirrors Tony Vitello himself.

Vitello took over a rudderless program at Tennessee in 2017. Seven years later, he left as the architect of a college baseball powerhouse, posting a 341–131 record, reaching the Men’s College World Series three times, and delivering the Volunteers’ first national championship in 2024 with a win over Texas A&M.

He laid the foundation of his success in Knoxville by embracing a data-rich approach to roster construction long before it became common in major conferences. Then he layered it with attitude: his teams hit hard, threw hard, and carried themselves with a swagger that traveled.

Known for his charismatic recruiting style, Vitello got his players to buy in before they got to Tennessee. His program had few peers in developing those recruits into pro ball. Under his guidance, 52 Volunteers were drafted, including Garrett Crochet — now the ace left-hander for the Boston Red Sox — and Christian Moore of the Los Angeles Angels.

Legendary run by Tony Vitello at Tennessee

-52 Players Drafted
-10 First Round Picks
-341 Wins
-2 SEC Regular Season Titles
-2 SEC Tournament Titles
-5 Regional Championships
-3 College World Series Births
-1 National Championship

Thank you, Tony🙏 pic.twitter.com/yGVggurCNd
— More Important Issues (@More_Issues) October 22, 2025

Few organizations have endorsed Vitello’s player development track record more than the Giants in recent years, selecting or trading for numerous players out of his program. That includes their 2025 first-round pick, Gavin Kilen, as well as outfielder Drew Gilbert and right-hander Blade Tidwell, acquired from the New York Mets at the trade deadline. Maui Ahuna — a 2023 fourth-round pick out of Tennessee and now the organization’s No. 12 prospect — is currently representing San Francisco in the Arizona Fall League.

Vitello will have some familiar faces in the clubhouse, including Drew Gilbert — one of Vitello's favorites at Tennessee - but he will also have to adapt to a Major League clubhouse with established veterans. One of the main storylines surrounding his arrival in San Francisco will be how his outsized personality meshes with stars like Rafael Devers, Willy Adames, and Matt Chapman.

There’s already some indication of how that might go: Gilbert’s energy and presence gave the Giants’ clubhouse a noticeable spark after his debut in August, suggesting Vitello’s personality could assimilate well in a leadership role.

Gilbert’s strong impression in the Giants’ clubhouse offered a glimpse of how Vitello’s personality might translate at the Major League level. And he’s not the only one offering proof of concept. Vitello also has the backing of veteran ace Max Scherzer — a three-time Cy Young Award winner who played for Vitello when he was an assistant at the University of Missouri.

“He’s going to get players to buy in," Scherzer said, in an interview with The Athletic. "I know there’s going to be this narrative that he doesn’t have any pro ball experience. But his ability to relate to players and his fire and passion for the game is going to resonate with everybody within that clubhouse. So I just don’t see that as an issue.”

There have already been plenty of narratives concocted, opinions disseminated, and columns written about Vitello joining the Giants — and there will be an avalanche more in the weeks and months ahead. At its core, what exists is real intrigue. Rarely, in a game that dates back to the 19th century, is there something new under the sun. But here it is: a college coach one day, an MLB manager the next.

No organization has ever tried this before. The closest recent comparison often cited is Pat Murphy, who spent 25 years in college baseball before joining the San Diego Padres as a minor league manager and eventually taking over the Milwaukee Brewers in 2024.

Not since George Steinbrenner hired Dick Howser from Florida State for the 1980 sea as a college coach gone directly into a Major League managerial role. Even then, Howser wasn’t exactly a stranger — he’d spent nearly a decade on the Yankees’ coaching staff before a one-year return to his alma mater. The Yankees won 103 games that season. The Giants wouldn’t mind that kind of foreshadowing.

In recent years, Major League organizations have become increasingly open to hiring directly from the college ranks — particularly on the coaching side. The Detroit Tigers hired pitching coach Chris Fetter straight from University of Michigan in 2020, shortly after the Wolverines played for a national championship. A year earlier, the Minnesota Twins hired Wes Johnson directly from University of Arkansas; he now serves as the head coach at University of Georgia.

After four seasons of treading water around .500, the Giants have made a significant splash with this decision — one backed by the richest contract in MLB history for a first-year manager.

The San Francisco Giants officially announce the hiring of Tony Vitello and will pay him the highest contract in MLB history for a first-year manager.
He will earn in excess of $3 million a year, according to two persons with direct knowledge of his contract.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) October 22, 2025

Vitello turned Tennessee into a powerhouse by molding his teams in his own image — loud, fearless, and relentless. He’s never shied from a challenge. Neither has Buster Posey. Now, the Giants have a manager whose personality mirrors the bold vision of their new era.