Tennessee promoted Josh Elander on Saturday to interchange Tony Vitello as head coach of the baseball staff.
Vitello departed the Volunteers on Wednesday to change into the supervisor of the San Francisco Giants.
Elander, 34, initially joined Vitello’s employees as a recruiting coordinator and assistant coach in 2018. He was promoted to assistant head coach after the 2022 season.
“From the outset of this nationwide search, Josh emerged because the plain best choice,” athletic director Danny White stated. “His relentless dedication has helped rework Tennessee baseball right into a powerhouse, and we’re proud to have him as our subsequent head coach on Rocky Prime. His affect evokes excellence in each side of our program and we stay up for persevering with our quest for championships on the diamond underneath Josh’s steerage!”
Elander has labored intently with the staff’s hitters and catchers whereas additionally serving because the third base coach, serving to Tennessee make journeys to the Faculty World Collection in 2021, 2023 and 2024. The Vols claimed this system’s first nationwide championship in 2024.
“I am extremely grateful for the chance right here on Rocky Prime,” Elander stated. “I am actually glad for our gamers to proceed constructing on what we have already constructed right here. The hunt continues, and we’re nonetheless excited. Love this place and these folks. So grateful for the most effective that is but to return.”
Elander has additionally developed a robust status for recruiting, bringing within the nation’s No. 1-rated class in each 2024 and 2025.
Elander was a sixth-round draft choose by the Atlanta Braves within the 2012 draft out of TCU. He performed 4 seasons within the Braves’ minor league system and one within the Arizona Diamondbacks’ system, batting .273 with 21 homers and 135 RBIs in 222 video games.
Vitello, 47, was employed in San Francisco to interchange Bob Melvin. It marked the primary time an MLB staff employed a supervisor straight from a collegiate program with no expertise within the skilled ranks.
–Subject Degree Media
