Tennessee Baseball Coaching Candidates Following Tony Vitello's Departure

The current associate head coach and recruiting coordinator would seem like the most obvious top candidate in the coaching search, as Josh Elander has been the right-hand man of Vitello for nearly a decade, handling just about every responsibility one could hold without having his own program.

He has been one of the most crucial keys to the success this baseball program has had under the current coaching staff, and Tennessee fans have been worried he would leave for a notable head coaching job at times, but his patience and selectiveness could result in him taking over a well-established program in the national championship conversation.

With Vitello taking the Giants job, Elander would make the most sense to hand the interim role to and see what he can do with a talented roster in perhaps a 'prove-it year' if you will.

Tennessee Pitching Coach Frank Anderson

Another obvious in-house candidate would be pitching coach Frank Anderson, who does have experience with being the head coach at a notable college baseball program with his nine seasons at the helm of Oklahoma State, going 329-208 in Stillwater.

He has practically been the head coach of the pitchers while working under Vitello, developing several arms for the professional level and fastracking their development, including Garrett Crochet, Liam Doyle, Chase Dollander, Marcus Phillips, Drew Beam, Chase Burns, and others.

He would be another candidate for the interim role if they feel like he can help the program win more right now, but as a long-term answer could be limited by age and potential retirement in the relatively near future.

Oregon Head Coach Mark Wasikowski

Perhaps the most proven coaching candidate with no connections to the program that could potentially be realistic would be Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski.

He was linked to the recent opening at Mississippi State, but was not hired, leaving the door open for other future top job openings to come his way. He came up as an assistant for SEMO and then national programs in Florida, Arizona, and Oregon before taking the head coach job at Purdue and then returning to Eugene, which is where he is now.

Taking out the cancelled COVID season, his first four years as the head coach at Oregon, he has gone 156-83, building a stronger program every year, taking a noticeable step forward every two seasons, which would line up well this year for the Ducks.

He made a regional in his first two seasons as he established the foundation, and he built on that success, going 81-44 the following two years with super regional appearances in each.

In his short tenure as the leader of the Ducks program, he has produced 24 draft selections as well as a large number of All-American seasons, including a strong season from outfielder Mason Neville last season, who led the entire nation in home runs.

Clemson Head Coach Erik Bakich

Another external head coach candidate that could make some sense would be Clemson head coach Erik Bakich, who has spent extensive time working at a high-level program in the state of Tennessee with his seven-year tenure as an assistant at Vanderbilt under Tim Corbin.

After eight years of assistant duties (spent the first year of his coaching career as a volunteer assistant at Clemson), he earned his first head coach role at Maryland, progressively turning around the program every year.

After three seasons, he took the head coach job at Michigan, where he would spend the next decade, going 328-216 and reaching the College World Series Final in 2019.

He returned to Clemson ahead of the 2023 season and has had 44-45 wins in each of his three seasons at the helm, led by star centerfielder Cam Cannarella, who was selected with the 43rd overall selection in the most recent draft.

This is a coach with ties to the state, experience at the highest level, and has made a deep run in the College World Series before, making him a very attractive candidate if the administration were to look for external options.

Colorado Rockies Special Assistant to the GM, Todd Helton

If you want to pick the one alumnus candidate that would make any sense at all, it would be program legend Todd Helton, who is currently a special assistant to the general manager of the Colorado Rockies.

The former first-round pick has spent time on the coaching staff at Rocky Top, when he was hired in 2017 to be the Director of Player Development.

He was a legend for the Tennessee athletics program, playing both football and baseball at a high level, before going to the MLB, where he would have a plethora of success for the Rockies, being inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame in 2024.

Kansas Head Coach Dan Fitzgerald

Dan Fitzgerald has only been the head coach at Kansas for three seasons to this point, but is already getting high-level interest, and it is not hard to understand the why.

He worked his way up the coaching ladder early in his career, especially at the junior college level, where he saw success as a head coach even. Following that success, he joined the staff at Dallas Baptist, one of the winningest programs in the nation, spending nine seasons there and was the associate head coach for the last five.

He would spend just one year at LSU in 2022 as an assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator before Kansas plucked him away to give him his first chance at being a Division One head baseball coach.

He took over a program coming off a 4-20 conference record and has progressively developed the program forward to the point where the Jayhawks went 43-17 in 2025, making their sixth regional appearance in program history and first since 2014.

Fitzgerald could make a lot of sense for the fanbase as well as he has created a strong interest in the baseball program on campus, which has led to one of the most rambunctious student sections in the country last season, creating a fun atmosphere for the team to play in front of.

Led by two All-Americans, Kansas was a fun team to watch, finishing at the top of statistical leaderboards in several categories, including home runs (15th), walks (4th), and shutouts (4th).

Other Candidates

There are several other candidates that could receive interest, including Dan Heefner (Dallas Baptist), Rob Vaughn (Alabama), Cliff Godwin (East Carolina), and Kevin Schnall (Coastal Carolina), as well as Kevin McMullan (Mississippi State), who is one of the top assistants in the country.

These people in the coaching realm could make the most sense for athletic director Danny White to hire to replace Tony Vitello at the helm of the Tennessee Volunteers baseball program, without sacrificing the culture, investment, or winning play that has made the fans fall in love with the program.