Tony Vitello can’t stop winning.
After coaching the Vols to their first ever National Championship in baseball and winning an SEC record 60 games, along with the SEC Regular Season Title and SEC Tournament title, Vitello’s just won the title of the highest paid coach in college baseball.
Per D1 Baseball’s Kendall Rogers initially and confirmed shortly thereafter via Tennessee baseball’s Twitter account, AD Danny White and Tony Vitello have agreed to a three-year extension that keeps Vitello in Knoxville through 2029 and doubles his salary from $1.5 million to $3 million with a $250,000 signing bonus.
Think we’ll let him stick around
Head coach Tony Vitello has signed a 5-year contract extension through the 2029 season.
— Tennessee Baseball (@Vol_Baseball) August 23, 2024
“Tony and his staff have developed the country’s top baseball program, and we are excited to announce this long-term extension to keep Tony on Rocky Top,” White said in the media release. “As an athletics department, we aim to lead the way in college sports, and Tony has created a baseball program that sets the standard across the entire sport. The on-field results in the nation’s best conference are unmatched, and the enthusiasm he has brought to Vol Nation has been incredible to witness.”
The new contract also includes an increase in the allotment he’s allowed to spend on his staff. Per GoVols 247, the previous figure was “approximately $900,000,” with the new number likely to be one of, if not the biggest in the country. Associate Head Coach Josh Elander received a raise in the process, too.
Since Vitello became Tennessee’s Head Coach in 2018, the Vols have been on a steady upward trajectory, picking up more steam every season. In his first year at the helm, the team went 29-27, but won five more SEC games than the previous year. Since then, he’s won at least 40 games each year, except for the canceled 2020 season when the team started 13-0 and finished 15-2.
“We wanted to take care in solidifying what we knew was inevitable, that being our athletic department and coaching staff wanting to be teammates for a long time,” Vitello said in the release put out by Tennessee.
UT made it to Omaha for the College World Series in three out of the last four seasons and made the Super Regional in each of the last four years. It also leads the country in wins during the past five years with 226 and Vitello leads the NCAA in winning percentage in that span with a nearly .780 figure.
With an all-time record of 295-112, Vitello leads the NCAA baseball in winning percentage for active coaches at .725 with at least five season’s worth of data.
The culture he’s established and the talent he’s acquiring and developing has put Tennessee at a new level of exposure on the national scale. Jordan Beck, Garrett Crochet and Ben Joyce are previous Vitello Vols who are in the majors currently, along with 25-plus players who haven’t made it to The Show full time, yet.
Then UT had eight players drafted off the 2024 National Title team, including two first-round picks in Christian Moore at No. 8 overall and Blake Burke at No. 34 overall. Since 2018, Tennessee has been consistently ranked in the top-10 for baseball recruiting via Perfect Game, and landed the No. 1 overall spot for 2024 and the No. 3 spot for 2025.
Just yesterday, Texas finally announced its deal with former Texas A&M coach Jim Schlossngale for seven years and totaling $15.4 million. He’ll make $1 million in the first two years of his deal then he’ll be paid $2.68 per-season for the final five seasons of the contract. Vanderbilt’s Tim Corbin is the next closest, making anywhere from $2 million – 2.45 million, depending on various performance bonuses. And just a little more context — Vitello’s new contract would put him tied with Red Sox manager Alex Cora for the 13th-highest paid manager in the MLB.