Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello joined SportsTalk with John Wilkerson and Vince Ferrara on Sports Animal 99.1 Wednesday morning as the Vols busy early offseason rolls on.
During his hit, Vitello discussed work in the transfer portal, the importance of the upcoming MLB Draft for Tennessee’s 2026 roster and much more. Here’s everything Vitello said.
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On how Vitello has been doing since the season ended
“It’s been a lot. I think everybody in our building was about as bitter as you can be with a 46-win season. So we’ve been at it. But also the rules have dictated that we’ve had to adjust and put in extra work. So trying to make the best of it and move forward in the fall with a roster we’re in love with.”
On what it’s been like having to deal with the transfer portal and MLB Draft while college baseball moves to a roster limit of 34
“It’s been like Mission Impossible, and I’m definitely not Tom Cruise, although I am taller. It’s been a little painful. It’s been exciting. It does make it easier. I mean, the scholarship conversation almost doesn’t even exist anymore, because everybody knows what they would be getting, or at least we explain that part. But you know, you cut ties with some people that you have strong relationships with, and that kind of happens every year, but way more this year. It’s been difficult. But the bottom line is the goal posts have moved, and we’ve got to move with it.
“I think even if the rules had stayed the same, one of the things we would have recognized this year, is some of the teams we’re losing to — we could have coached better, we could have played better — but also they were older and we had been pretty conservative in the portal to this point, and rosters have really gotten older, so I think we would have made that adjustment to begin with. But then you pile all these other things on like you said, and it’s a factor. And then you want to talk about messing everything up. The draft being as late as it is, it’s just not a good thing for everybody.”
On what his conversations with players are like when dealing with roster decisions and portal decisions
“Yeah, there’s one school in our league that likes to make undercover offers to guys, and our two or three guys that were on the end of that have stayed strong. I think in general, there are extra conversations these days, however you want to frame them. I don’t think that’s really been an issue for us. Knock on all kinds of wood.
“What it’s been is a variety pack of, ‘hey, this is the rule change that’s been a big chunk of guys.’ We’ve gone from to where walk-ons and minimum scholarship, or call it almost kind of conservative scholarship Moneyball style, has been our benefit. That’s gone away. It doesn’t exist anymore. So that’s been a good chunk of things.
“Then there’s some guys every year you have a conversation with of just, ‘I don’t know that you’re ready if you want to play. This is what the future maybe holds,’ and it’s just not the right thing for whatever reason, timing, whatever it might be.
“And then there’s some guys this summer, to be honest with you, where we’ve said, it’s kind of the summer of cover your own — or CYA, if you want to say that, cover your own butt. And we’re doing that, and you may need to do that. A couple of those guys, we put a lot of time in and I wasn’t too excited to tell them that, but we couldn’t wait till July 20 after the draft or August.
“And then you got the final category that I think you kind of alluded to this a little bit, too. It hasn’t been a major issue for us — again, knock on a lot of wood, but I’ll use Robin Villeneuve instead of pointing to somebody this year. There’s been at least a little bit of gap. Whether it was him or his father, wanted him to be guaranteed to be the first baseman. I thought Robin would start for us every day. He was Texas Tech’s best hitter. I think he would have played a ton for us last year. But we’re not going to guarantee anything to anybody. So if somebody comes in and says, they want to start on the mound, I have the word compete above my desk. I’m all for that, but we’re not going to guarantee anything to anybody, unless it’s an extreme set of circumstances.”
On being a part of the MLB Draft coverage once again, but being nervous with so many Tennessee signees potentially being selected
“Yeah, that’s the one this year that’s got us in a spot where we feel like — me and Alabama’s coach (Rob Vaughn) were arguing yesterday at a game we’re scouting, and it was an argument over who had more guys in limbo, in the portal. I feel like we have more than anybody in the conference. I’ve kind of looked at it, and so it’s some high school guys, it’s some guys on our roster, but then it’s also a good amount of portal guys. We haven’t dealt with that much. We did lose a big left-handed hitter (Eric Rataczak) last year to a small amount of money. I felt it impacted our season.
“So it can make a big difference, and there could be a big swing one way or the other and all this— I don’t like wearing makeup, but they make me wear it, so I’ll be on the camera. Hopefully they put enough on that I can hide it if one of these guys goes off the board while I’m on the air. But it’ll be a blast to do that draft. I really do enjoy it, and it’s been something that they’ve helped me along and made me more comfortable doing it. So I’ve truly enjoyed it.”
On the balance of being happy for Tennessee’s high school commits getting drafted but wanting them to make it campus
“Yeah, I think ahead of time you want to hedge your bets. And you know that a guy, if he has a good spring, this could happen or Anson (Seibert) made it to us last year because he basically was injured in the spring, but otherwise, I believe we would have lost him. And this thing’s worked out for the best for everybody. We’re excited to see him pitch. But what you really like is when you kind of know one way or the other, what’s going to happen. Again, man, this guy, no one’s saying that they’re going to take him as high as he wants to go, or as much money as he’s asking for. Or in the case of a kid like Billy Carlson from California, like he’s supposed to be a top 10 pick, and you never know what’s going to happen on draft day, but you kind of know to write him off, and you’re going to be excited for him when it happens. But then there’s those ones that are a surprise and a punch in the gut, and it’s the cost of doing business. And one of the things you see in Omaha every year is it’s a bunch of guys that turned down the draft. And there’s other guys and good stories in there, but you talk about it like a UCLA team with Trevor Bauer and Garritt Cole, or you talk about Blake Burke and Christian Moore. They’re guys that kind of went pro and did not, they went to college first.”
On former Tennessee players having success in the MLB, how that helps them get guys to campus
“Please record that and send that to us as a commercial for Vols baseball. Next time we lose a game, I might play that the next morning to make myself feel better because that stuff is awesome, and you’re helping me relive this summer of, we’ve been very busy, but you take time out to text or look at a box score and how well those guys have done, it’s been awesome. But one problem with all that stuff, John— you’re thinking rationally, and that doesn’t go on very often when it comes to recruiting in particular. Which is kind of a sore spot. And I kind of say that facetiously, but also in reality, in recruiting, marketing and hype beats substance and reality and statistics way too much. And obviously we got our own spiel. We do too, but yeah, it would be awesome if kids and families would look to the phrase— proof is in the pudding. I don’t know who started it, but it’s a cliche for a reason, but I do think that gets undervalued or under looked a little bit. And then when it comes to draft day too, there are some guys who see that, and it does affect their decision ahead of time. The one thing that goes on on draft day is it gets very emotional, and it goes very, very quick. So I know times valuable. But for instance, one kid you know that played second base in the SEC goes off the board. The kid who played second base for the Vols, and I’m just making stuff up, immediately his competitive juices get flowing, and he’s like, wait a minute. I’m better than that guy. I should go. I want to go. Another thing is, I sat there with with one prospect a few years back, a team called and said, do you want $3.9 million. His agent took about two seconds looked at the dad, asked him. Dad took about two seconds and said, No, and they hang up the phone, and that was it. $3.9 was gone whether you wanted it or or not. And of course, they had a plan in place, and it worked out. But it’s really wild, and different things happen that you predict, and it can get very emotional. So I do like the rational thought process though John, because if kids can use that, and families can stick to a rational approach, they end up making the better decision for them, whether it’s pro ball or college.”
