Tennessee Coaches React to Tony Vitello News

"Nothing but respect and gratitude for Tony as a friend and colleague. He has always been there to support @Vol_Softball and we will miss him. Congratulations Tony, we are very proud and happy for you!"

Brennan Webb

"Final answer to the 3000 texts I got the last two weeks…..YES. Going to miss seeing my friend regularly. Anyone who thinks there is a chance he is going to fail at this has never met him."

Rick Barnes

“Well, I love Tony. I’m gonna really miss him. And he did one of the great building jobs. I mean, what he did here in a short time to turn this program around and take it to a national championship, and I know what he went through. I can think back to when I was somewhere in that age where I had the opportunity to go to a couple of different places, but never had the chance to make a jump from college to the professional league like he did. Being the first coach, it’s unbelievable. And I’m sure the emotions that he went through were wide, very hard, because I know that he loved what he had built here and what he had going. I know that when something like that comes, when you have a chance to go do something that’s never been done, and with one of the great franchises ever. But to me, you think about the lifestyle change. He goes from what, playing 60-some games to 160-some with a couple months, I guess, down in Florida before that gets started. Obviously, leaving here, going to California is all different, but I can assure you that when he met with his team and he left them, it was very emotional. And because when you change, it’s tough. But you guys know how I always feel like God has a plan for all of us, and his plan is that this is where Tony is right now. But I think we all look at what Tony did, and you applaud him. It’s incredible. But I can also tell you that all this stuff that goes around, people try to break it down and diagnose what went on here. So many people read into things that aren’t there. I mean, the bottom line is he had a chance to leave the University of Tennessee and go to the San Francisco Giants. And it’s not like he’s going to another university. That’d be something that I think you could talk about, but the fact is, I can tell you from my position, being here on this campus and the administration that we have here from Randy Boyd to Donde Plowman and to Danny White, it’s the best in the country. It’s not even close. I’ve never seen people align like they are. And I do know this, Danny has given every one of us what we need to compete at the highest level to give us a chance to play for the national championships in our sport. And if he hasn’t done it, I can assure you he’s trying to do it. And with that said, I did hear that people jumped on Danny about it, I just know how hard he’s worked to try to put us where we need to be. I do know this university, this program, and when you’re in a position where you have to make decisions that affect people’s wallets, when you talk about raising prices and this and that. I mean, he knows what’s going on, and does he want to do it? I can only tell you that people that had seats, I feel them saying, we signed a deal where I was supposed to be able to do this forever. I don’t know if it was a passed down deal, grandfather deal, but all the people that were there, and I’ve had a lot of people come up to me and ask me about it, what can I do? I can’t do anything. And I know this, Danny would do anything he can, but with that said, when you walk down in the arena today and see what they’ve done underneath to provide the kind of amenities that he felt that people should get when they pay the money they pay, the upgrades and all that. I just know it’s a tough job. I mean, it’s a tough job. I’ve said before, I don’t think anyone on this campus has a harder job than Josh Heupel. You look at what he’s doing right now, when you talk about rev share, all this, all that that we’re going through, you know, we don’t know. We’re all trying to figure it out, too, but I’m just glad that we do have the leadership here that’s going to stay on top of it and give us a chance to compete at the highest level.”