St. Louis native and Tennessee coach Tony Vitello set to manage San Francisco Giants

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic recently reported that Tony Vitello, Tennessee baseball's head coach, is the favorite to fill the manager vacancy for the San Francisco Giants. Jeff Passan and Pete Thamel made the news official today.

Vitello, who has coached the Volunteers since 2018, is a St. Louis native. He went to De Smet high school and then played baseball at the University of Missouri. Vitello has transformed Tennessee into a powerhouse in the SEC during his tenure, and the program consistently churns out top draft picks in Major League Baseball.

One of those draft picks happened to fall to the St. Louis Cardinals this past summer.

Tennessee Volunteers head coach and St. Louis native Tony Vitello, who coached Liam Doyle, is the San Francisco Giants next manager.

The Cardinals selected Liam Doyle fifth overall in the 2025 MLB Amateur Draft. Doyle played for Vitello for just one year in 2025, but Doyle transformed his game in just one season. Doyle played for Mississippi in 2024, and he posted a 5.73 ERA in just 55 innings. He turned it up to another level in 2025 under Vitello's leadership.

Doyle posted a sterling 3.20 ERA across 19 games (17 starts) with 164 strikeouts in only 95.2 innings. Doyle had one of Division I's best fastballs, and the Cardinals opted to pick him with their top pick in this past year's draft.

Tony Vitello, along with conditioning coach Quentin Eberhardt, worked hard to help Liam Doyle lose 19 pounds and get in shape for the collegiate season. It's still early in Doyle's professional career, as he has thrown only 3.2 innings since being drafted. He allowed one run and struck out six in that time period.

Tanner Franklin is another Volunteer whom the Cardinals drafted this past summer. Franklin, 21, pitched in relief for the Volunteers this past year. He has a 70-grade fastball that can touch 102 MPH and averages around 98 MPH. Franklin transferred to Tennessee in 2025 to grow under Tony Vitello's leadership, and he had the best season of his collegiate career, striking out 52 batters in 38.2 innings. His 5.12 ERA was a bit high for comfort, but the stuff that Franklin possesses is tantalizing, and that stuff developed with Tennessee.

Vitello's rise in preference for Buster Posey and the Giants all but assures that Daniel Desclaso, the bench coach for the Cardinals last year, will return to his post. Descalso is a San Francisco native, and he has received rave reviews for his coaching abilities. Chaim Bloom's quotes about wanting to maintain consistency in the coaching staff also helps build confidence that Descalso will return to be Oliver Marmol's right-hand man.

Vitello's hiring represents the first time a college head coach has gone directly from college baseball to managing an MLB team with no professional baseball experience.

The St. Louis Cardinals were able to benefit from Tony Vitello's coaching expertise while he was with the Tennessee Volunteers. Now, they'll have to face off against him in the majors. Hopefully, Liam Doyle and Tanner Franklin will have some extra motivation when they go against their former skipper.