Tony Vitello shares how he built a tight team with multiple top-rated players
Tennessee secured the No. 1 national seed in the NCAA baseball tournament, and that’s in part a credit to the immense collection of talent on the Volunteers roster. And head coach Tony Vitello recently raved about the lack of ego or selfishness.
This despite having a handful of top MLB draft prospects on the roster and plenty of players not playing who surely could make an impact. But as Vitello explained it, there hasn’t been any sort of issue all year long.
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“Well, I think some of those guys have put themselves into that position, whereas maybe they weren’t there a year ago or earlier in the year,” Vitello said of some of the top players. “So it kind of starts with that, when your best or most talented players are pushing themselves to get more physical or to get better mentality-wise or mature and elevate their status as an individual, the team gets better. With this group in particular, I can’t take any credit for, like, making the personalities work.”
While bringing the group together might be the only bit of credit Vitello is willing to take, he at least had a good quip about it, involving longtime New York Yankees skipper Joe Torre.
As Vitello talked, he explained he might have it even easier than the former Yankees manager.
“I’m from St. Louis. Joe Torre goes from there to the Yankees, and it’s a little better roster, and it really becomes about managing egos and when to tell Mariano Rivera to go in the game,” Vitello said. “With this, I can’t even say I’ve done any of that. These guys took ownership of that locker room in August, the most or quickest I’ve ever seen a freshman class merge with the older guys, and then the older guys have been about as willing as any group I’ve been around for leadership: Tell me where you want me to play, when you want me to pitch, how you want me to do this, and I’ll go do it.”
And the coalescence of this Volunteers squad has led them back to Omaha at the College World Series in a position to win a national title. And for Vitello, it’s made life pretty easy.
“It’s been a unique group, and it’s made work fun,” Vitello said.
Game times, TV info for Omaha
June 14
- Game 1: North Carolina vs. Virginia, 2 p.m. | ESPN
- Game 2: Tennessee vs. Florida State, 7 p.m. | ESPN
June 15
- Game 3: Kentucky vs. NC State, 2 p.m. | ESPN
- Game 4: Florida vs. Texas A&M, 67 p.m. | ESPN
June 16
- Game 5: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 2 p.m. | ESPN
- Game 6: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2, 7 p.m. | ESPN
June 17
- Game 7: Loser of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4, 2 p.m. | ESPN
- Game 8: Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4, 7 p.m. | ESPN
June 18
- Game 9: TBD vs. TBD, 2 p.m. | ESPN
- Game 10: TBD vs. TBD, 7 p.m. | ESPN
June 19
- Game 11: TBD vs. TBD, 2 p.m. | ESPN
- Game 12: TBD vs. TBD, 7 p.m. | ESPN
June 20
- Game 13 (if necessary): TBD vs. TBD, 2 p.m. | TBD
- Game 14 (if necessary): TBD vs. TBD, 7 p.m. | TBD
June 22
- MCWS Final Game 1: TBD vs. TBD, 7:30 p.m. | ESPN
June 23
- MCWS Final Game 2: TBD vs. TBD, 2 p.m. | ABC
June 24
- MCWS Final Game 3 (if necessary): TBD vs. TBD, 7 p.m. | ESPN