Tennessee’s Vitello favorite to land Giants job

University of Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello has emerged as a frontrunner for the San Francisco Giants’ managerial job, and a resolution on a potential deal is expected in the next 24 to 72 hours, sources told ESPN, confirming multiple reports.

Should the sides agree on a contract, Vitello would become the first manager in major league history to jump directly from a college program to the big leagues without experience in a professional organization.

Vitello, 47, led Tennessee to a College World Series title in 2024 and is regarded as one of the best coaches in college baseball. He would replace Bob Melvin, who was fired Sept. 29 following an 81-81 season, the Giants’ fourth consecutive season without a playoff berth.

San Francisco president of baseball operations Buster Posey has considered a number of managerial candidates, among them former Giants catcher Nick Hundley and a pair of other big league catchers, Kurt Suzuki and Vance Wilson. The Giants have instead trained their interest on Vitello, who has distinguished himself as one of the preeminent recruiters and talent developers in the country during a two-decade career as an assistant and head coach in college

Vitello’s philosophies on the game and personality intrigued Posey and aligned with what the future Hall of Famer hopes to build in San Francisco, sources said. In an interview with ESPN in June, Vitello said his reputation as a rabble-rouser did not bother him and that he had no plans to change his approach to coaching, which called for boundary-pushing.

“I think you don’t know where the line is until you cross it. And then you make an adjustment,” Vitello said. “I don’t want our guys, if they give them a coloring book, I don’t want them just coloring inside the lines. You know, come up with something different.”