The Latest on Tennessee Baseball's Coaching Search

The Tennessee Volunteers named their pitching coach as the interim coach for now, despite many fans hoping that Josh Elander would be the guy they gave the nod to.

This is something that was discussed at the presser by Danny White.

"Yeah, a combination of factors. Frank's obviously been a head coach, but probably more importantly, as quickly as I'd like to move, I'd like Josh to build focus on his candidacy. And he's kind of in the middle of all this, too. Up until this morning, the entire staff didn't know the decision that Tony was going to make. So, he's been focused on recruiting and coaching our players. We have an incoming class. There's a lot going on. And I didn't want to throw this on them now, while also maybe treating an interview as an afterthought. I want to be able to focus on the interview process."

Oregon Head Baseball Coach Linked to Tennessee Opening

The Oregon Head Coach has been linked to be a possible candidate by a national analyst. Here is what On3's Chris Low had to say about Tennessee's baseball coaching search just hours after Vitello accepted the job.

"There will be major support among Tennessee fans and players for Danny White to hire associate head coach Josh Elander as Tony Vitello's replacement, but Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski will also be a prominent name to watch."

Vols On SI's Shayne Pickering also named Wasikowski as a candidate earlier on Wednesday. Here is what he had to say.

"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," said Pickering in his article full of coaching candidates.

Unique Time for Tennessee to Conduct a Coaching Search

This is a unique time to search for a coach, as this is typically done during the summer, but now the Vols have their hands tied behind their back. The Vols still have a chance to land a lead guy, but this could definitely be something to watch.

White also discussed how this is a unique time to search for a coach. He also discussed if it will be easier because of the attraction that this job has.

"We're going to find out. I'm going into this with open eyes. Like I've said to you guys before, relative to coaching searches, interviews matter. I won't ultimately know what the right decision is until I go through that process and get an opportunity to compare candidates against each other, and to hear from our student athletes, all that stuff. But I expect that there's, even though it's a difficult time of year, I expect that there's going to be a ton of interest, because of what Tony's built here, what we've all collectively built here, our players, our fans, our donors, everybody contributing to that awesome new facility that will open up this season."

Tennessee Hopeful They Can Keep Their Roster

The Tennessee roster could be divided, as players will have the opportunity to transfer away from the Tennessee Volunteers. This is something the Vols will look to do, but if they can't their expectations of being a contender may slide.

White commented on his message to these players.

"I always, in every single transition, encourage the players not to let their emotions get the best of them, focus on their academics, focus on baseball right now. I'll be telling them some of the things I've told you. I'm going to work as fast as I can to try to eliminate that uncertainty for them as quickly as I can, and then I'll be asking them to give the new head coach and coaching staff, however that plays out. In this case, that might be something that's very familiar to them. It might be something that's different. I don't know. But ask them to assess what that looks like, really, for their own best interest. They have a tremendous opportunity here at Tennessee, and like every student-athlete we have here, if they choose to do something different, then that's their decision."

Tony Vitello May Take Some of His Staff With Him

The Vols will now look to fight off the fact that the head baseball coach, and new San Francisco Giants manager, may be taking his staff with him.

At this time, White claims that he is likely unsure.

"I don't know. Tony and I haven't talked about that. We spoke earlier today. I'm not sure that he knows. He's probably trying to figure things out himself. I would venture to guess he probably doesn't know yet. I visited with our entire staff earlier today, and told them that we have every intention of making sure that they're in a good place, and that they need to do what's best for their career. I get that. Whether that's in San Francisco, or here, or somewhere else. Bu,t we're not going to leave anybody out in the cold. This is a staff that's done a lot for this university, and we'll make sure that they're in a good place."