Tony Vitello Admits Taking Over as Giants Manager is ‘Dream Come True’

New San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello spoke to the San Francisco media for first time since he was hired.

Tennessee baseball head coach Tony Vitello, Knox News Sportsperson of the Year, poses for a portrait with the team's 2021 College World Series participant trophy at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021. | Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Tony Vitello is a break-the-mold hire that could have significant ramifications for the San Francisco Giants, Major League Baseball and college baseball coaches that harbor a dream of managing at the highest level one day.

For now, Vitello will settle for doing the best he can as one of his more recent dreams came true on Thursday as he was introduced as the newest manager of the Giants.

“It’s a dream come true, but it’s a very recent dream…And as much as I'd love to sit up here and promise things and pound my fist on the desk and all that, and really, all I want to do is a good job,” he said to reporters, including Shayna Rubin at the San Francisco Chronicle in comments posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Vitello, who is 47 years old, is believed to be the first college baseball head coach to make the leap directly to managing an MLB team without time as an MLB player or coach. Dick Howser made the jump from Florida State to the New York Yankees before the 1980 season, but Howser played in the Majors, coached for a decade and was even the Yankees’ interim manager before going to FSU.

Tony Vitello on His New Job

Hannah Mattix/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Vitello spoke alongside his new bosses, president of baseball operations Buster Posey and general manager Zach Minasian. Both have deep professional baseball ties. Posey played catcher for the Giants. Minasian’s father was the son of a Texas Rangers clubhouse attendant, and his brother Perry is GM of the Los Angeles Angels.

He’s stepping into their world, but he believes his experience at Tennessee — where he said his philosophy was to “coach guys as individuals” — will translate to the Majors.

"We'll all work together,” he said. “The whole goal is to create a bond here between everybody at the top all the way down to whatever you consider the bottom of the depth chart. We're in this together now, whether you like me or not."

Vitello said he wants to dive into offseason workouts immediately with his new players and begin working on fundamentals that will give the team a foundation going into spring training in February and the regular season in March.

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.