Tony Vitello calls out SEC rival for 'undercover offers' to players not in transfer portal

Roster retention has become as difficult in college baseball as any sport out there. Coaches consistently see their rosters flip over from previous years. But when a program like Tennessee wants to keep you, it usually means another high-level school is in the market too.

Turns out, some “undercover offers” are being handed out to Tennessee players despite never officially entering the NCAA transfer portal. Head coach Tony Vitello revealed as such on Wednesday when speaking on 99.1 THE Sports Animal in Knoxville. Concerning to hear however, the good news for Vols fans is that they have accepted those offers.

“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,” Vitello said.

Vitello did not specify which SEC team he was talking about. Fans have begun to speculate on social media but unless Vitello himself decides to reveal the information, we will never know. But one thing is for sure — no conference in college baseball appears to be as competitive as the SEC.

Originally, the conversation started by discussing the guys Tennessee has going through the 2025 MLB Draft process. Both players who were on the 2025 roster and high school commits. Vitello could have some scrambling to do once the event is over, needing to fill a few holes.

Unsurprisingly, Tennessee remains active in the transfer portal itself. On3’s Pete Nakos dropped some intel on the Vols’ efforts on Tuesday, which you can find here.

More on Tennessee baseball entering 2026 season

Just over a year ago, Vitello brought Tennessee baseball to its highest ever point. Going to Omaha was a massive success but winning the national championship had the Vols on a different level. The first one in program history, everyone is once again searching for that high.

A nice run to the Super Regionals took place before running into another SEC opponent. Arkansas took down Tennessee for their own trip to the College World Series. Not many Super Regionals were as competitive as that one, even if the Razorbacks advanced in two games.

Vitello is now working to build a squad capable of competing in the SEC. Performing well in the league is usually a good indicator for how well the postseason will fare. But as usual, roster management can be a difficult task, even for players presumably locked up.