During his introductory press conference in November, Josh Elander emphatically stated that he intended to continue coaching third base as he had the previous eight years as Tony Vitello’s top assistant coach.
But just 28 games into his first season as head coach, Elander made a change. Elander remained in the dugout while Tennessee batted during the Vols’ 13-4 win over Austin Peay.
“Had a lot of conversations after the weekend. It was a tough one, right? And we just said, you know, ‘hey, how can we communicate a little bit better as a staff.’ And I’ve always wanted to keep everything this year as similar as it was, just with the uniqueness of the change with (Tony Vitello), for the players between the lines and how it ran.”
Assistant coach Ross Kivett was the third-base coach while Ricky Martinez was the first-base coach against the Govs. However, the long term plan is for Director of Program Development Craig Bell to coach third base and for Kivett to remain at first base. Bell was under the weather Tuesday night which is why he did not coach third base.
“Craig’s done it in a national championship game,” Elander said. “Has done it a long time over at Florida, had a ton of success doing it. I remember being real young in this league and watching him do it. He can do this at the high level.”
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Tennessee has gotten off to a slow start to Elander’s first season as head coach, improving to 19-10 with the Tuesday night win over Austin Peay. The Vols have particularly struggled in close games with five of their six SEC losses coming by two or fewer runs including three walk-off losses against Vanderbilt over the weekend.
Moving to the dugout allows Elander and first-year pitching coach Josh Reynolds to better communicate during innings and have to rely less on contingency plans. It also allows him more time to talk to Tennessee’s hitters while the Vols are batting.
“I just thought at this point, (pitching coach Josh Reynolds) and I are playing the game of, ‘hey, if this, then that,’ and then I’m trying to communicate from the third-base box,” Elander said. “But a lot of it was even the hitters for Chuck (Jeroloman) and I to be right there with the guys as they’re going up to the box. I love coaching third, but I think at this point for the team, it was the move and for our staff to be able to communicate on a higher level throughout the game.”
The Vols are looking to get back on the right track in SEC play over the weekend when they host defending national champion LSU at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in a three-game series at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. First pitch for the weekend set is at 5:30 p.m. ET on Friday night with the SEC Network broadcasting the game.
