D1Baseball named Tennessee’s Tony Vitello its National Coach of the Year on Tuesday after leading the Vols to the 2024 National Championship, the first in program history.
“Tennessee winning its first national championship in 2024 made Tony Vitello the obvious choice to be named D1Baseball’s coach of the year, but all of the smaller things that went into getting his team to that point are just as impressive and important in the grand scheme of things,” D1Baseball’s Joe Healy wrote.
The Vols faced real adversity both before and during their phenomenal National Championship season. Chase Burns, one of the top pitchers in the country, transferred to Wake Forest after spending two seasons at Tennessee and the Vols’ ace AJ Russell pitched just 14.1 innings while battling arm injuries.
Despite overwhelming roster turnover and a costly injury on the mound, Tennessee’s pitching staff was one of the nation’s best and ranked sixth nationally with a 3.89 team ERA.
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Tennessee’s offense was elite again becoming the first ever college team with five players to hit 20-plus home runs in the same season. The Vols’ lineup was loaded and ranked first nationally in runs, doubles and home runs.
The end result was one of the best teams in college baseball history. Tennessee posted a a 60-13 record— becoming the first ever SEC team to win 60 games— to go along with a SEC East Championship, SEC Regular-Season Championship, SEC Tournament Championship and a National Championship.
After a brilliant first six years (five full seasons) in Knoxville that included two trips to the College World Series, a SEC Regular-Season and Tournament Championship, Vitello’s program reached the mountaintop completing one of the most improbable climbs in college sports.
“That is just Tony Vitello being Tony Vitello, a person who hasn’t wavered in who he is, and now, he’s the D1Baseball coach of the year,” Healy wrote.
D1Baseball’s honor is the third that Vitello has earned this offseason along with the Baseball America and the American Baseball Coaches Association honors. Vitello also earned Coach of the Year honors in 2021 (National College Baseball Writer’s Association and Perfect Game) and in 2022 (National College Baseball Writer’s Association).
