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Tennessee makes Tony Vitello highest-paid coach in college baseball after winning national championship

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Tennessee makes Tony Vitello highest-paid coach in college baseball after winning national championship


Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello guided Tennessee to its first College World Series title in program history in June. (Photo by C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

Tennessee is rewarding head baseball coach Tony Vitello nicely for winning the College World Series.

The university announced on Friday that Vitello has agreed to a five-year contract extension that will pay him $3 million per year — double his previous salary. The deal will make him the highest-paid coach in college baseball, reports The Athletic’s Joe Rexrode.

The Volunteers won their first-ever Division I men’s baseball championship in June, defeating Texas A&M in three games to win the title. Tennessee was the national No. 1 seed going into the NCAA tournament, becoming the first program to win the College World Series with that ranking since 1999.

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Vitello was hired as Tennessee’s head coach following the 2017 season after 15 years as an assistant coach at Missouri, TCU and Arkansas. By his second season, the Vols won 40 games and made their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2005. In his fifth season, Tennessee advanced to the College World Series for the first time in 17 years.

Under Vitello, the Vols have made three of the past four College World Series and finally broke through by winning 60 games and a national championship this past season. He’s compiled a 295–112 overall record in Knoxville.

Previously, Vitello was the fifth-highest paid coach in the SEC, according to Front Office Sports. With his new contract, he surpasses Vanderbilt’s Tim Corbin ($2.45 million per year) for the top annual salary in the sport. (Jim Schlossnagle, who left Texas A&M for Texas after the College World Series, will be paid $2.68 million in the third year of his contract with the Longhorns, reports the Austin American-Statesman.)

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Vitello and Tennessee agreed to the new contract on May 31, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel. If the school fires him without cause during the next five years, Vitello would be owed the remainder of the contract. The coach would owe Tennessee $4 million if he left for another job before June 2025. The buyout amount drops by $1 million in each of the two seasons after that, goes to $800,000 in July 2027, then $400,000 in the final year of the contract.

Also, Vitello’s buyout for leaving Tennessee would be reduced by half if athletic director Danny White is no longer in that position during the length of the contract.





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Tennessee football DL Josh Schell enters transfer portal

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Tennessee football DL Josh Schell enters transfer portal


Tennessee defensive lineman Josh Schell has entered the transfer portal, he announced on social media on Jan. 6.

Schell had a short stint at Tennessee after transferring from Grand Valley State in April. He played all 13 games and made one tackle in the 2025 season.

Schell played more than 100 snaps, mostly on special teams. He never cracked the rotation on the defensive line.

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Schell spent three seasons at Grand Valley State, including a redshirt year, and one season at Tennessee. He has one season of eligibility remaining.

The 6-foot-4, 265-pounder is from Camden, New Jersey. His best college season was 2024 at Grand Valley State, when he played 13 games and recorded 35 tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks, six pass breakups, three quarterback hurries, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.

He was also a pitcher on the Grand Valley State baseball game in the 2023 season.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

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Tennessee Titans head coach interview schedule takes shape

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Tennessee Titans head coach interview schedule takes shape


The Tennessee Titans’ search for their next head coach is coming into focus, and the initial interview phase is in full swing.

Following the news that Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy would be having a first virtual interview on Thursday, the dates and times for some interviews for other candidates have come out.

Multiple reports on social media indicate that Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo will meet with Mike Borgonzi on Wednesday, followed by Nagy on Thursday. The team will then follow that up by meeting with former Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski on Saturday and former Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris on Monday.

Tennessee will also meet with interim head coach Mike McCoy, and is rumored to have interest in former Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury.

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It’s an ever-changing process in Nashville. Stay up to date with all the coaching search news with us here at Titans Wire, and please sound off with your thoughts.



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419 sober drivers in Tennessee arrested for DUI in 2024, according to TBI

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419 sober drivers in Tennessee arrested for DUI in 2024, according to TBI


New data released Monday by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation shows 419 sober drivers were arrested for DUI in Tennessee in 2024, the highest number of wrongful arrests in a single year since WSMV4 Investigates first started obtaining the data.



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