Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn shares what he thinks of Tony Vitello ahead of big series against Tennessee

The Tennessee Vols will begin a three-game series against the Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville on Thursday night. 

Tennessee needs to win the series against Arkansas to ensure that the program hosts a regional in the NCAA Tournament (the Vols could still host if they win just one game, but they definitely can't afford to get swept). 

The Vols, however, haven't had much luck against the Razorbacks in recent years. Tennessee is just 1-9 against Arkansas in the last 10 meetings between the two programs. 

UT head coach Tony Vitello is quite familiar with Arkansas after working for Razorbacks head coach Dave Van Horn in Fayetteville for four seasons before landing in Knoxville. 

On Wednesday, Van Horn met with reporters and he was asked about how he views Vitello as a coach. 

"I think he's done a good job," said Van Horn when asked about Vitello. "I mean, he's a good coach, he's great recruiter. And, you know, he's got (Josh) Elander and Coach (Frank) Anderson there. I mean, he's got a good staff. The key is getting them (players) to play hard, and they do. And then they're talented on top of that. And they're at a place that they're supported as good as anybody in our league or anybody in the country."

Van Horn also revealed that he called Vitello last summer to congratulate his former assistant on leading Tennessee to a national championship.

"I called him," said Van Horn. "He was bombarded, obviously. I just congratulated him. I'm happy for him. And, you know, just proud of him. And happy for Josh (Elander) and all the guys that we knew that were involved in that program. And, you know, he thanked me a lot. There was a lot of that. You'd probably have to talk to him about it."

There's clearly a lot of respect between Van Horn and Vitello, though that hasn't stopped the two coaches from having some intense on-the-field moments with each other over the years.