Tennessee Vols baseball coach Tony Vitello didn't mince words on Tuesday night while talking about the previous coaching staff at Missouri, Vitello's alma mater.
The Vols are set to host the Tigers this weekend for a three-game series.
On Tuesday night after Tennessee's win against Western Carolina, Vitello was asked about the upcoming series against Missouri.
Vitello quickly mentioned Missouri's lineup before transitioning to some comments about the coaching staff.
Specifically, Vitello made it clear that he's glad the previous regime at Missouri is gone.
(Note: Kerrick Jackson replaced Steve Bieser as Missouri's head coach this past offseason. Bieser had been the head coach at Missouri since 2017. He got the job over Vitello, who was an assistant coach at Arkansas at the time. Vitello played at Missouri from 2000 to 2002 and he served as an assistant coach for the program from 2003 to 2010.)
"Kerrick Jackson replaced me when I left Missouri and he had been doing all kinds of stuff in the baseball world and he’s now the head coach there," said Vitello. "Coach (Tim) Jamieson, who I played for and I owe a lot to, is now the pitching coach. And Bryson LeBlanc recruits for them, I recruited Bryson. So not only a familiar jersey but familiar faces. Those group chats and things like that I choose to not be a part of because I’m this guy (at Tennessee), but there is some communication that goes around and I’m glad that group of people are happy. And I’m glad those guys are there as coaches. It may work against us this weekend because like I said they’re playing hard and playing the right way."
“I went on a tangent out there with our guys, so longer answer, personally, selfishly I’m glad they’re there (new staff at Missouri)," added Vitello. "I’m glad that other thing (former coaching staff) is over with. That was a nightmare -- I worked 90 hours a week at that place and I went to school there and gave it about everything. Everything I do here, I did there. While that other regime was there, you know, you name it. My dad was in a life-threatening car accident and I’m getting yelled at in the third base box. Many other things, too. So I’m glad that that’s over with and there was a change."
The accident that Vitello is referring to happened in 2017 when he was an assistant at Arkansas.
Vitello actually found out about the accident during a game against Missouri in Columbia (his father and his sister had been traveling to the game).
From WholeHogSports.com: Around the third inning he (Vitello) could sense something was wrong when he saw another sister, Katie, sitting alone in the stands.
"I never look in the stands, but I could just feel they weren't there," he said. "They're usually early. I did start looking and I saw my older sister sitting by herself. I felt the need after we got into the dugout to text my sister, 'Why are you scrambling around?' She said, 'I can't find Dad and Kara.'"
When he went back to the dugout he had another text. "They were in an accident," it read. Vitello said he doesn't know why, but he went back onto the field the next inning. He nearly vomited in the third-base coaching box.
"I was crying my eyes out," Vitello said.
Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said Vitello sprinted into the dugout when the inning was over, grabbed his phone and his backpack.
"All of a sudden he just said, 'I've got to go,'" Van Horn said.
"I think he was a little stunned," Vitello said. "Like any circumstance, he's always understanding. He just asked, 'Is everything OK,' and I said, 'No.' I probably should have provided some more information, but I didn't want to create a big distraction, and also I wasn't thinking very clearly."
Tim Koch, father of Arkansas sophomore catcher Grant Koch, drove Vitello to the hospital. When he arrived his father and sister were bloodied, lying on backboards and wearing neck braces.
"I thought I was going to see them die," Vitello said. "To see them both alive was a big relief....It was a miracle."
It certainly seems as though Vitello doesn't feel like he received the proper respect from Bieser and his staff.
Vitello is all Vol now, but Missouri will always be a big part of his story. And a big part of the reason that he's in the position he's in at Tennessee. It's understandable that he wasn't happy with the treatment he received from his alma mater while Bieser's regime was in place. It would be like a former Vol that's on another coaching staff coming into Neyland and getting verbally accosted by the Tennessee coaching staff -- it wouldn't be a good look.
Fortunately for Vitello, and it sounds like for Missouri as well, there's a new regime in Columbia. And it's one that operates with a lot more class than the previous one.
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