Big news in the baseball world today—the San Francisco Giants just made a move that one doesn’t really see every day. They have hired Tennessee’s head coach, Tony Vitello, as their next manager. And here is why it is so shocking—he is heading into MLB straight from college baseball, with no pro managerial experience.

But Vitello’s rise has been nothing short of epic. After playing as an infielder at the University of Missouri, he started coaching there as a volunteer in 2003. Then, he moved up to be a full-time assistant and helped Missouri reach the NCAA postseason every year while building some top-ranked recruiting classes. He spent time at TCU and Arkansas after that as an assistant and recruiting coordinator. In Arkansas, he mentored future MLB stars like Andrew Benintendi and Max Scherzer.

And now, Scherzer is talking about how his teacher is the right person for the job!

The $15.5 million veteran and former Vitello pupil didn’t hold back and shared with Ken Rosenthal, “He helped even to foster my mentality and add to it, really helped bring it out of me…. So I absolutely believe in him. He’s to this day one of my closest friends, and I absolutely believe he’s going to get it done at the big league level. He’s going to get players to buy in. I know there’s going to be this narrative that he doesn’t have any pro ball experience. But his ability to relate to players and his fire and passion for the game are going to resonate with everybody within that clubhouse. So I just don’t see that as an issue.”

Vitello’s record at Tennessee is pretty insane—341-131, three College World Series trips, and a 2024 national championship. They even gave him a record-breaking contract of $3 million a year through 2029. This made him the highest-paid coach in college baseball. He must have qualities to get paid so handsomely, and the San Francisco Giants took notice and decided to roll the dice.

Now, Vitello steps into the big league with Buster Posey in the front office. This is a chance to bring his energy, teaching skills, and player-first approach to the Giants clubhouse. Sure, for San Francisco, it is a bold move, but it could pay off big. Given that there are even hype words coming from other team members, surely the Giants might just have pulled a gem.

Has a college coach ever been hired as an MLB manager?

Rarely has it happened that a college head coach has gone straight to managing an MLB team. Sure, it is not unheard of for college coaches to land big league spots eventually, but they almost always have to spend their formative years in the minors or as MLB assistants first. The most recent and also closest example of that is Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy.

Before he took over the Brewers, he was a college baseball legend. He spent two decades at Notre Dame and Arizona State and produced powerhouse teams. But unlike Vitello, Murphy had nearly a decade of professional experience before getting his shot. And even then, the journey was far from easy.

Murphy has his own demons to fight, and he didn’t get his first MLB managerial gig until he was 64 years old. And as far as landing in Milwaukee is concerned, he had actually planned to follow Craig Counsell, his close friend, to the Cubs. But the Brewers called him for a last-minute interview.

Murphy, recalling that interview, said, “I remember sitting there for two hours with all these [expletive] nerds… I’ve been here eight years—I need an answer pretty soon.”

That gamble for sure paid off big time—because Milwaukee, despite the payroll being super low and not having the superstar players, stormed to back-to-back NL Central titles. They won more games than any team in baseball this season. And now Murphy is about to join Bobby Cox as one of the only managers to win consecutive NL Manager of the Year awards.

So yes, a college coach can make it in the majors. Sure, Vitello’s leap without any pro experience is uncharted territory, but nothing is impossible!