How Giants Chairman Was Convinced Hiring Tony Vitello Was Right Move

San Francisco Giants chairman Greg Johnson gave a wide-ranging interview, including his impressions of new manager Tony Vitello.

Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello speaks during a press conference before the NCAA College World Series finals at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Neb., on Friday, June 21, 2024. | Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants made quite the impression when they hired former Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello to take over as manager.

The national championship-winning coach left a comfortable, successful job with the Volunteers to take over a franchise that went 81-81 in 2025. President of baseball operations Buster Posey made the call. But he did have to convince the team’s chairman, Greg Johnson, that it was the right call.

During a one-on-one interview with Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (subscription required) he was asked about his role in the pursuit of Vitello and what he thought of the hire.

Greg Johnson on Tony Vitello

Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Johnson said that Posey approached him about the potential of hiring Vitello and admitted that he was taken aback by how much Vitello was making at Tennessee, saying that it was more than some Major League managers.

But the more he talked with Posey and the more he talked with Vitello he became more convinced hiring the 47-year-old coach was the right move. He came to see the move as not nearly as controversial as some made it out to be, given Vitello’s career as a coach in the college ranks for more than 20 years.

“To me, whatever business you’re in, if you have shown that you can build organizations and lead organizations over multiple situations like Tony has, I think that that puts you in a very different light than somebody who’s been in the majors as a bench coach, has been a third-base coach, and it’s their time to be a manager,” Johnson said. “I like the person who’s run things and been successful in multiple places, I think that’s a safe bet. We talked and he had all the right answers, from my perspective. But again, it’s Buster making the call, and I felt comfortable with it.

“It’s kind of crazy to even think that it’s that out of the box. We’re not hiring a basketball coach. He’s 47 and he’s lived and breathed baseball his whole life.”

Johnson also said that the Giants are creating an advisory role for former manager Bruce Bochy. That would give Vitello a second highly experienced manager to learn from, in addition to former Giants skipper Dusty Baker, who is already on staff.

Vitello takes over the Giants after spending eight seasons at Tennessee, where he spent eight seasons rebuilding the Volunteers into one of the best baseball programs in NCAA Division I. That reached a zenith in 2024 when he guided Tennessee to 60 wins and the Men’s College World Series championship in 2024. He also took the program to the MCWS in 2021 and 2023. He also led the program to two SEC regular-season and tournament championships.