Tony Vitello wants 2023 Tennessee roster to take ownership of destiny

Tony Vitello wants his players to prove they deserve their spot at the onset of the 2023 season.

The charismatic Tennessee Volunteers leader elaborated on his thoughts with the media, stating that he’s hoping for some guys to take ownership of their roles on the team, separating themselves from the rest in the process.

“This team has a different story to write than other teams across the country, but in particular on this campus than last year or the year before, year before, and I think something that this team has is a little bit more open competition, position player wise,” stated Vitello. “We said that at the beginning of last year, and then some guys just flat out took ownership of some of those spots.

“… So maybe that’ll happen with this club.”

Tennessee was a force last season as Vitello steered the ship, but the Volunteers came up just short. It’s evident that he’s expecting more of the same motivation from his squad this season, hoping they can reach even higher than their predecessor.

Tony Vitello discusses the ‘fresh flavor’ on this Tennessee team

Moreover, Tony Vitello knows that there are huge expectations for the Tennessee Volunteers in 2023. Coming off a year where the Volunteers went 57-9 and won both the SEC regular season and SEC Tournament championships, Tennessee is expected to take the next step forward.

However, as Vitello explained, this team isn’t the same as that team or any of the others that he has coached at Tennessee.

“I think it’s just been a parallel to have they’ve gotten closer as a team,” Tony Vitello said. 

“We finally had a couple of guys arguing with each other on the field, which is healthy anytime you’ve got a, in my case, brother-sister relationship. You know, when your family spends time around one another, you’re going to have conflict, you’re going to have resolution. You’re also going to have some fun times that aren’t just, ‘Hey, the coaches are gonna play spiteball today,’ or whatever and have fun.” 

Continuing, Tony Vitello also said that Tennessee has been developing chemistry as naturally as possible, not forcing anything. He pointed out struggles that the team overcame during the 2022 Fall ball that helped bring them together and progress as a unit.

“It’s things that have kind of come organically out of that locker room, in the weight room, and it’s starting to feel more like a team even more so than it did in Jackson, Tennessee. And then, if you date back to September and even prior to that, when we first played Wake Forest, it didn’t seem like a team at all,” Vitello said. 

“So, that progression, I think, is at a certain point, but by no means is it kind of where it needs to be, at the end, where it’s going, and not what it was like with a couple of the other teams that we had were just everyone had been around the program and each other for so long.” 

Tennessee is, on paper, an incredibly talented team. However, it’s worth remembering that this is a different team than it was last season. 

“So, this has a fresh flavor to it, which therein lies means that it’s a new one, and I think there’s days ahead when we’re gonna notice more progress and feel good about it.”

On3’s Dan Morrison contributed to this article.