The resurrection was a long time coming, yet remarkably swift. After years of apathy, losing and empty stands, the University of Tennessee baseball program began a climb back to respectability once head coach Tony Vitello was hired in 2017.
The Vols earned No. 1 rankings, won SEC titles, set numerous records, accumulated individual accolades and sent numerous players to Major League Baseball. There was just one giant piece missing.
The Vols finally broke through this season, securing their legacy as one of the top baseball programs in the country by capturing the first national championship in program history.
Christian Moore belted a leadoff home run and Dylan Dreiling homered for the third time in three games as Tennessee (60-13) beat Texas A&M 6-5 in a winner-take-all Game 3 of the Men’s College World Series at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska.
It was the first national championship by a Tennessee sports program since women’s basketball (2008) and women’s indoor track and field (2009) won in back-to-back years.
Tennessee became the first No. 1 national seed to win the championship since Miami in 1999. The Vols lost the first game to the Aggies 9-5 before evening the series with a 4-1 win in Game 2 behind home runs by Dylan Dreiling and Cal Stark.
Texas A&M rallied to score four runs and bring the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning of the rubber match before the Vols finally closed it out to set off a wild celebration on the field and end years of angst for UT fans everywhere.
“We had unfinished business, especially this being the third time we’ve been here in the last four years,” UT senior pitcher Zander Sechrist says. “(20)21 we didn’t do well. ’22 you could arguably say that was the best college baseball team ever. ’23 we got to experience winning at least a game here, but the job wasn’t finished. And ’24 just felt a little different. And I’m just blessed to get the job done.”
The Vols broke the single-season for wins this season, and the 60 wins were the most by an SEC team in conference history. UT has won at least 50 games three times in the last four seasons, something no other school has done over the same span. Before Vitello, it only happened twice in program history (1994 and 1995).
UT won a share of the SEC regular-season title and won the SEC Tournament title, sweeping both crowns for the second time in three years. Before Vitello’s arrival, the Vols won the three total SEC regular-season titles and three total SEC Tournament titles.
The Vols were the fifth straight MCWS champion from the Southeastern Conference – all by different schools – and the eighth SEC program overall to win a national title in baseball. The grind of the conference helped pave the way for the ultimate celebration.
“We’ve got all the resources in the world with where we’re at, but it’s a place where we kind of had to build a foundation to catch up with some of these other storied programs,” Vitello says. “... But you don’t ever get to a point where you can look down on everybody because the instant you do that, you’re probably going to take an uppercut from one if not multiple places.”
Turnaround swift, sustained
The program turnaround under Vitello has been nothing short of remarkable. Before his arrival in 2017, the Vols had made the MCWS just four times. This year’s appearance was their third in four seasons and they were the No. 1 overall seed for the second time in three years.
Along the way, the Vols have projected an unapologetic swag that has earned them fans and enemies. They celebrate home runs with a fur coat and daddy hat, argue calls and never back down from challenges. It was a tone Vitello and his staff set the moment he arrived in Knoxville.
“We kind of had a theme going there that we needed to find a way to make this thing work. And that freight train got going, and it never really slowed down until it really got out of control, to be honest with you,” Vitello says. “But that was our niche. We got to play with some attitude. We gotta play with some grit.”
UT will need to replace several key players likely lost to the MLB Draft, including Moore, Drew Beam, Billy Amick, AJ Causey and Blake Burke, as well as departed seniors like Cal Stark, Chris Stamos, Kirby Connell and Sechrist.
But the Vols have shown they can restock quickly and have plenty of young talent, led by freshman shortstop Dean Curley, already on the roster.
Cost of doing business
Vitello received a $140,000 bonus for UT winning the national title. He signed a contract extension in 2021 that raised his salary to $1.5 million a year through the 2026 season.
Given the recent run of success and other job openings around the country, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Vitello sign a new deal once the Vols return from Omaha.
Meanwhile, the university is in the midst of a $100 million renovation project for Lindsey Nelson Stadium. A few hours after the Vols celebrated on the field, UT athletics sent an email asking fans to celebrate the historic win by donating money “directly to transforming Lindsey Nelson Stadium into the finest venue nationwide for student-athletes and fans alike.” The amounts were:
• $5 - signifying the first Division I program to have five players hit 20-plus home runs in a single season
• $22 - in honor of Vitello
• $60 - total wins in 2024
• $184 - home runs hit in 2024
• $500 - cost to dry clean the fur coat worn after home runs
• $2,024 - the national championship year
Celebrating all-around success
The baseball team’s title run capped a strong academic year for UT sports overall. UT finished third in the Learfield Directors’ Cup standings, a record finish for the university. The Cup ranks the best overall athletic programs in the nation by division.
All 20 UT sports reached the postseason for the first time in school history.
UT is one of only two Power Five schools to have every sport reach the postseason in 2023-24. UT won four SEC titles in 2023-24 and captured its third straight SEC All-Sports championship.
Legendary UT quarterback Peyton Manning, men’s basketball coach Rick Barnes and football coach Josh Heupel were all in attendance to watch the baseball team capture the historic title. They shared a suite at Charles Schwab Field, riding the highs and lows of every big play like thousands of other UT fans worldwide.
The man most known for the word “Omaha” predicted it won’t be very long before UT is celebrating again.
“This is not the last,” Manning told reporters on the field. “Tennessee is coming in all sports.”