The annual message board rumors about Tennessee Vols baseball coach Tony Vitello have already started

Over the past few years, message board rumors linking Tennessee Vols baseball coach Tony Vitello to head coaching positions in collegiate baseball have become into an annual ritual.

There are persistent whispers that either another team is actively trying to sign Vitello away from the Vols or that another team has already struck a deal with the longstanding UT head coach every spring or summer.

And those whispers always turn out to be wholly untrue.

This is why supporters of Tennessee should not be alarmed by the most recent flurry of ludicrous message board rumors linking Vitello to the Texas position, which is, incidentally, still vacant (David Pierce is still the head coach at Texas, despite recent criticism).

This is the most recent wild rumor about Vitello.

Obviously, the message board post is untrue. It’s probably just an idle admirer trying to stir up trouble in a web forum (it’s incredible how much time people can waste).

To begin with, Vitello has no justification for leaving Tennessee. He reports to Danny White, one of the best athletic directors in the country, who shares Vitello’s vision for the program in its entirety.

Furthermore, Vitello is extremely unlikely to even consider taking a new position while Tennessee’s season is still ongoing. That’s not to say that, based on my observations, he would be open to the possibility of taking a different position after the season, but nobody can really speak for Tony V. apart than Tony V)— but there’s no possibility he’s going to neglect his team in favor of running to Omaha to consider a different position.

Top teams looking for a coach will probably get in touch with Vitello to see if he’s interested as long as Tennessee continues to win and make trips to the College World Series. Regarding Vitello’s departure for a different college role, though? To believe it, I guess I would have to see it.