Texas A&M reportedly made a “very furious run” at Tennessee Baseball coach Tony Vitello in its search for a new head coach, according to D1Baseball.com‘s Kendall Rogers, but Vitello stayed loyal to the Vols after leading the program to its first national championship on Monday night.
“It shot its shot,” Rogers wrote of Texas A&M on social media Sunday afternoon, “but TV stayed put and loyal to a program that has given him the keys to the castle.”
Rogers published notes on the Texas A&M coaching search after it was reported by the Houston Chronicle’s Brent Zwerneman that the Aggies are set to hire former Aggie hitting coach Michael Earley as the program’s new head coach.
Tennessee beat Texas A&M 6-5 in Game 3 of the College World Series Final Monday night at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha.
The Vols (60-13) not only won their first title but also set a new program and SEC record with 60 wins in a single season and became the first No. 1 overall seed to win the College World Series since Miami in 1999.
Former A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle after the game on Monday denied reports linking his name as the top candidate for the vacancy at Texas, but left to become the new head coach of the Longhorns roughly 20 hours later.
“I think it’s pretty selfish of you to ask me that question, to be honest with you,” Schlossnagle said during his postgame press conference. ‘But I left my family to be the coach at Texas A&M. I took the job at Texas A&M to never take another job again. And that hasn’t changed in my mind.
“That’s unfair to talk about something like that … I understand you’ve got to ask the question. But I gave up a big part of my life to come take this job. And I poured every ounce of my soul in this job and I gave this job every ounce I could possibly give it. Write that.”
Schlossnagle was introduced as the new Texas head coach on Wednesday in Austin.
Rogers also noted on Sunday that there are plenty of connections between Vitello and the Texas A&M program.
“So shooting your shot there made sense,” he wrote. “But I would not leave Tennessee given the ballpark, the rabid fan base and the fact you are the king in that town. Dude is an icon for the Vols now.”
Vitello, who just finished his seventh seasons as head coach at Tennessee, rapidly rebuilt the Vols after being hired in June 2017.
In 2019 he took Tennessee back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005. Since then the Vols have won 12 straight regional games, have been the No. 1 overall seed in two of the last three tournaments and have been to the College World Series in Omaha in three of the last four seasons.
Tennessee over the last four seasons has led the country in wins (211), win percentage (.773), NCAA Tournament wins (25) and home runs (566).
He received a $140,000 bonus for leading Tennessee to the national championship and is expected to receive a new contract from the Vols that will make him one of the highest paid coaches in the sport.
“Very surreal,” Vitello said Monday night during his postgame press conference. “Hard to center yourself, which is a good thing, being lost in the moment, I guess.”
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