Giants Reportedly Close to Hiring Tennessee’s Tony Vitello as Manager in Historic Hire

The San Francisco Giants “closing in” on hiring Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello as their next manager, according to The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly, Brittany Ghiroli and Ken Rosenthal.

If a deal is completed, Vitello would replace Bob Melvin in the manager’s chair.

It’s unclear what the terms of a deal would be, though Baggarly, Ghiroli and Rosenthal noted Vitello is currently the second-highest-paid coach in Division I, as he has an annual salary that exceeds $3 million.

Vitello is getting his first crack as a professional coach at any level after spending the last 23 seasons working in the college ranks. He had stints as an assistant at Missouri (2003 to ’10), TCU (2011 to ’13) and Arkansas (2014 to ’17) prior to being hired as Tennessee’s head coach in June 2017.

In eight seasons with the Volunteers, Vitello led the program to a 341-131 record with two SEC regular-season and tournament titles. He also led them to the first national championship during the 2024 season.

After the Giants finished a disappointing 81-81 in 2025, president of baseball operations Buster Posey announced on Sept. 29 the firing of Bob Melvin.

Melvin went 161-163 in two seasons with San Francisco. The Giants are looking to find a manager who can get them back to the playoffs for the first time since 2021.

Posey, entering his second season running baseball operations in San Francisco, will hope that Vitello can be the answer they have sought out.

The Giants have been one of the most aggressive teams in terms of pursuing free agents in recent years, but they haven’t had a lot of hits. Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani and Carlos Correa were among the notable players they attempted to bring in.

Correa had an agreement in place with the Giants that fell apart before it became official due to concerns over his physical.

Rather than try to wait out free agency again, Posey was able to strike during the 2025 regular season with the deal that seemingly came out of nowhere to acquire Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox.

Devers gave the Giants exactly what they wanted with a .236/.347/.460 slash line and a 130 OPS+ in 90 games after the trade. Willy Adames, who was their big free-agent signing last offseason, overcame a slow start to become the first Giants player to hit 30 homers since Barry Bonds in 2004.

There’s a good nucleus of talent in place for the Giants to be a playoff contender in 2026. They still have Matt Chapman, Jung Hoo Lee and Logan Webb to build around.

If the Giants can make a couple of decent roster additions this offseason, along with the potential hiring of Vitello as manager, they have a good chance to end their four-year playoff drought next season.

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