Giants Lure Another Tony Vitello Assistant from Tennessee for MLB Staff

The Tennessee Volunteers are now down a second assistant coach or support staff member since the San Francisco Giants hired Tony Vitello.

San Francisco Giants hat and glove on the bench against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at PNC Park. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants hired Tony Vitello in the hope that his college experience would energize their franchise. He’s bringing some of his former coaches with him.

The latest is Frank Anderson, who per Baseball America (subscription required) informed the University of Tennessee that he would be joining Vitello’s staff in an unspecified role. Anderson was Vitello’s pitching coach for the Volunteers. The Giants have not officially announced the hire.

Tennessee is reportedly set to hire Jeff Meccage as pitching coach. Meccage served as the pitching coach for the Nashville Sounds, the Milwaukee Brewers’ Triple-A affiliate in 2025.

Anderson was named the interim head coach after Vitello’s departure before the Vols elevated Josh Elander to head coach.

Frank Anderson’s Coaching Credentials

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Luring Anderson from Tennessee makes plenty of sense for Vitello. He was one of the coach’s original hires and helped guide the pitching staffs that helped UT make five NCAA Tournament appearances, three trips to the Men's College World Series and win the national championship in 2024.

He’s prepared for than 100 college pitchers for the MLB draft, including 10 at Tennessee. He was the head coach at Oklahoma State from 2004-12, where he led the Cowboys to six NCAA Regional appearances as well as a trip to the NCAA Super Regionals in 2007.

His staffs are known for their remarkable consistency. The Vols were in the Top 20 in the nation in ERA, WHIP and strikeout-to-walk ratio in each of the last seven seasons. For his coaching career, his staffs have finished in the Top 25 in ERA 18 times, with 11 Top 10 rankings.

Before that, he was a Division II and juco assistant coach before he was named a pitching coach at Texas Tech in 1990. In 2000 he was hired away to mentor pitchers at Texas, which led to him taking the OSU job. After leaving the Cowboys, he coached pitchers at Houston before joining Vitello at Tennessee.

Vitello’s first coaching staff continues to take shape, though most of the hires have not been officially announced by the team. Tennessee’s Quentin Eberhardt, director of baseball sports performance, has reportedly left the program to join the Giants in a similar role. Former San Diego manager Jayce Tingler is expected to serve on the staff, along with former Toronto Blue Jays assistant hitting coach Hunter Mense as the team’s hitting coach.

Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey has announced that assistant hitting coach Oscar Bernard, quality control coach Taira Uematsu and bullpen catcher Eliezer Zambrano would return.