Former Missouri baseball player and assistant coach Tony Vitello hoped to land the Tigers' head-coaching job last summer and succeed his former coach and boss Tim Jamieson. Vitello, a St. Louis native who's helped build a perennial postseason roster as Arkansas' recruiting coordinator, interviewed for the Mizzou position with then-athletics director Mack Rhoades, but the job went to Steve Bieser, head coach at Southeast Missouri State.
Starting next year, Vitello will get his chance to coach against his alma mater. Tennessee announced the 38-year-old as its new head coach on Thursday. Vitello, who played at De Smet High and is the son of longtime Spartans baseball and soccer coach Greg Vitello, agreed to a five-year contract with a salary of $493,000.