Tennessee's Vitello's $3 million baseball first baseman • D1Baseball

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Kendall Rogers – August 23, 2024

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Tennessee coach Tony Vitello, fresh off a national title last June, is now the highest-paid coach in college baseball after agreeing to a contract extension with the Vols that extends his contract through the 2029 season and calls for him to make $3 million. every year.

Vitello is college baseball's first three million dollar salary man, surpassing Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin, previously the highest paid coach in the sport.

Vitello's big pay raise comes on the heels of the Volunteers' history. The Vols have won 50 or more games in three of the past four seasons and reached the top of the mountain earlier this year by winning the national title series over Texas A&M. The Vols finished the season with an overall record of 60-13.

The 45-year-old D1Baseball National Coach of the Year winner is getting a big payday with his new contract. Vitello was expected to start making around $1.8 million a year. However, after winning the national title and fending off overtures from Texas A&M, Vitello's salary increased by $1.2 million.

Vitello deserves that big raise. In addition to turning volunteers into an enduring force in our sport, he also transformed the culture of the program. When Vitello arrived, the Vols had not reached the NCAA tournament since 2005. Additionally, fan support, as you can imagine, was few and far between.

Now? The Volunteers have one of baseball's most passionate fan bases, and demand for tickets and prime seats is so high in Knoxville that the program has $98.5 million to renovate Lindsey Nelson Stadium. That renovation project was expected to be completed by the 2025 campaign but will now be completed in '26 due to some unforeseen circumstances.

As for Vitello, his new salary isn't the only good thing about his contract. In addition to getting a $200,000 bonus for winning the national title in 2024, he also gets a $250,000 signing bonus. As for the details of the Vitello buyout, he'll owe the Volunteers $4 million if he leaves before next July, he'll owe $3 million in 2026, $2 million in '27, $1 million in '28 and that number of buyouts will dump all the money. way to $400,000 in the final year of his contract. Interestingly, Vitello's purchase will be cut in half if Danny White is not Tennessee's athletic director.

“Tony and his staff have developed the best baseball program in the country, and we are excited to announce this long-term extension to keep Tony at Rocky Top,” Tennessee athletic director Danny White said in a release. “As an athletic department, we aim to be at the forefront of college sports, and Tony has created a baseball program that sets the standard for every sport. The results on the field in the nation's premier conference are unparalleled, and the enthusiasm he brings to Vol Nation has been an amazing witness.”

Tennessee assistants Frank Anderson and Josh Elander will also receive raises. Meanwhile, the Vols made waves earlier this summer by firing Houston's top assistant and hiring coordinator Ross Kivett to become the Vols' third assistant. Kivett, of course, is very popular in Knoxville from his previous time as an assistant within the program.

All in all, Vitello's deal surpasses anything else in college baseball. We've talked about Corbin before. Jim Schlossnagle, whose dramatic move from Texas A&M to Texas this past summer, will make an average of $2.2 million per year over seven years. He will make $2.68 million per year after the first two years. His salary will be $1 million for the first two years.

One thing is certain about all of this news, the salary scales in college baseball continue to grow. It wasn't long before we were surprised to see a coach making a cool million a year. Then, it was $1.5, then $2, and now, $3 million a year is the highest bar in sports. It's the top of the coaching mountain in college baseball, and Vitello, now a national champion, sits alone on the throne.

It was a historic day for Vitello, Tennessee, and Division I Baseball.