After departing from Tennessee baseball as the most accomplished coach in program history and bringing a national title to Knoxville, Tony Vitello made the unprecedented move to leap to the MLB and join the San Francisco Giants. Now, on Friday, he announced his full first Major League coaching staff.
The most notable name for Vol fans, which was previously announced, is Frank Anderson. The pitching coach under Vitello at Tennessee is now the Director of Major League Pitching with the Giants.
Here is the full list of coaches announced by the Giants:
- Manager – Tony Vitello
- Director of ML Pitching – Frank Anderson
- Assistant Hitting Coach – Oscar Bernard
- Third Base Coach – Hector Borg
- Field Coordinator & Catching – Alex Burg
- Bullpen Coach – Jesse Chavez
- Pitching Coach – Justin Meccage
- Hitting Coach – Hunter Mense
- First Base Coach – Shane Robinson
- Bench Coach – Jayce Tingler
- Quality Control – Taira Uematsu
- Infield Coach – Ron Washington
- Assistant Pitching Coach – Christian Wonders
- Bullpen Catcher – Eliezer Zambrano
Presenting the full 2026 Major League coaching staff, led by Manager Tony Vitello ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/KZ4w3DTnXU
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) February 6, 2026
More From RTI: Former Tennessee Baseball Star To Compete In World Baseball Classic
Vitello’s departure at UT was filled by associate head coach Josh Elander. He is joined by Chuck Jeroloman as the associate head coach, Ross Kivett as the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator and Josh Reynolds as an assistant coach.
Elander also has a number of important pieces on his support staff. This includes Keegan Knoll, Craig Bell, Zach Stovall, Ricky Martinez, Adam Low, Parker Serrano, Kirby Connell, Ethan Payne, Jeff Wood and Sarah Nguyen.
The Vols get the season started this Friday, Feb. 13, against Nicholls. That’ll be a three-game set before Tennessee welcomes in UNC Asheville the following Tuesday. Then, it’s another three-game series with Kent State ahead of a matchup with Bellarmine on Tuesday.
That paves the way for the first big tests of the year. Tennessee will play in the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series against UCLA, Arizona State and Virginia Tech, beginning on Friday, Feb. 27, at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
