Tony Vitello explains emotions after learning of Texas A&M matchup

In 2011 – after eight years on staff at his alma mater, Missouri – Tony Vitello headed to TCU as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. He spent three seasons in Fort Worth under Jim Schlossnagle before leaving for Arkansas and, eventually, becoming the head coach at Tennessee.

Now in his sixth year with the Vols, Vitello did something no coach has done on Rocky Top since 1951 by taking the program to the College World Series final. Texas A&M awaits starting Saturday night in the third year of Schlossnagle’s tenure, and it means Vitello will go up against his former boss on the big stage.

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As Texas A&M closed in on a victory over Florida in the semifinal game, Vitello watched with his family and friends. He saw the Aggies advance to the finals for the first time in program history and shared what he felt as the game went along.

“It’s kind of funny,” Vitello said. “We finished that game on Wednesday – and again, there’s so many obligations. And you thought, here is finally a moment to catch your breath. So got back to the hotel, shower quicker than I had before after any games, and went and had a big Italian meal with friends and family that came into town, were able to get a big enough table.

“When the meal is done, you look at the score and you know it’s not over until the umpire is going to the locker room. Florida had a young team, overcame a lot of things. So you’re kind of just putting things together there. And it’s right in front of you, probably what is going to happen.”

The College World Series has been a huge week for the SEC and ACC. Four teams from each league made up the field, but it’s now going to be an All-SEC championship series. For Tony Vitello, that was part of his thought process as he watched Texas A&M defeat Florida.

“You got here,” Vitello said. “You got four SEC teams, four ACC teams. Us SEC folks are way too cocky. So you figured you’d be playing one of those opponents. And all three of them are certainly unique in how they do it. They do it differently, but they all do it really, really well. We’ll see what we can do.”

It all comes down to this weekend as either Tennessee or Texas A&M will bring home its first-ever title. Game 1 gets underway Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. ET.