'The first few weeks you kind of worried about him' - Tennessee's Tony Vitello makes honest admission about key Vols player

When Tennessee Vols head coach Tony Vitello first landed LHP Liam Doyle as a transfer, he wasn't sure it was going to work out. 

Doyle, who transferred from Ole Miss to Tennessee ahead of the 2025 season, arrived on Rocky Top a bit out of shape. 

"He was flat-out out of shape...this year, he loses 19 pounds of body fat, gets to work, gets in shape, throws a ton of strikes," said Vitello while appearing on MLB Network's 2025 draft coverage. 

Vitello admitted during an interview with The St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he was worried about Doyle during his first few weeks at Tennessee. 

“I’ll be honest: The first few weeks you kind of worried about him,” said Vitello. “Where is this going to go? Is he going to last? Is he going to make it? Is he just going to want to storm out of here because it wasn’t like he couldn’t do it as well as his teammates. He couldn’t do some of the stuff. (It took) an impressive amount of competitiveness and determination to get over that hump." 

According to The St Louis Dispatch, Doyle was "struggling to keep pace with his teammates when it comes to conditioning" and that there was "concern" about whether he would make the Vols' starting rotation in 2025. 

Doyle, of course, rose to the occasion, got in shape, became one of the best pitchers in the nation, and ended up being selected by the St Louis Cardinals with the No. 5 overall selection in the 2025 MLB Draft. 

The story of Doyle's year at Tennessee is a reminder (in all sports) that development is never linear. Every player develops at a different rate -- depending, in part, on when certain things "click". 

Doyle obviously deserves the credit for putting in the work, but Vitello and his staff also deserve credit for not giving up on Doyle despite his challenging start with the Vols.