By Logan Starkey
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Frank Anderson has been named the interim head baseball coach for Tennessee after Tony Vitello announced his departure for Major League Baseball’s San Francisco Giants.
Anderon previously served as a head coach for Oklahoma State from 2004-2012. He was 329-208 as a head coach during that span.
Tennessee Athletic Director Danny White spoke about the decision in a press conference on Oct. 22.
‘My focus is making sure we are managing this transition in a judicious way,” White said. “I need a shepherd. I need a day-to-day leader.”
The search is being conducted in conjunction with Parker Executive Search. The same firm was used in previous head coaching searches.
White noted that assistant coach Josh Elander will be a candidate in the Volunteers’ head coaching search. Former Tennessee baseball players, including Christian Moore and Hunter Ensley, publicly endorsed Elander after Vitello’s departure was announced.
“I’d like Josh [Elander] to be focused on his candidacy,” White said. “He’s in the middle of all this too. He’s been focused on recruiting and coaching incoming players, I didn’t want to throw this on him too.”
White also dispelled social media speculation that revenue sharing or NIL regarding the women’s basketball program had anything to do with Vitello’s departure.
“I think we should all collectively apologize to Kim Caldwell and our women’s basketball program,” White said. “That is factually incorrect. Never happened.”
White was noncommittal about whether he expected Anderson to coach the entire 2026 baseball season. He did note he felt the job was a top-three job in baseball.
Vitello makes history as the first college coach to become a Major League Baseball manager with no previous experience in the big leagues. Vitello was named college baseball coach of the year in 2022 and won a national championship in 2024. The Volunteer baseball team was 341-131 in Vitello’s time in Knoxville.