Former Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello rails against NIL era: 'It's just a mess'

Since the advent of the transportation portal and the emergence of name, representation and likeness (NIL), determination person been countless debates astir however to make and set a strategy to found guardrails erstwhile necessary.

As the assemblage sports scenery has adjusted to NIL, the spread betwixt assemblage programs with deep-pocketed boosters and alumni and smaller schools with less fiscal resources has continued to widen. 

Although helium was successful a presumption to perchance payment from those perceived advantages during his clip arsenic caput manager astatine Tennessee, Tony Vitello railed against NIL's shortcomings.

"It’s a disaster," Vitello told Taylor Lewan and Will Compton during a caller occurrence of the "Bussin’ With The Boys" podcast.

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Tennessee caput manager Tony Vitello during Game 1 of the NCAA shot tourney Fayetteville Super Regional against Arkansas astatine Baum-Walker Stadium June 7, 2025. (Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

Vitello coached the Volunteers to the program's archetypal nationalist title successful 2024. Despite his deficiency of coaching acquisition astatine the MLB level, Vitello was named manager of the San Francisco Giants past month.

As helium reflected connected his palmy tenure astatine Tennessee, Vitello shared immoderate of his grievances with the existent NIL system.

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"It’s a disaster," Vitello told Lewan and Compton. "We each person thoughts that you imagination a small bigger. I benignant of person this weird phantasy oregon imaginativeness of, OK, tin assemblage and MLB merge unneurotic a small spot and assistance each other? I surely shouldn’t beryllium the patron of either. But I tin link the close radical and get this happening wherever it’s a small much fluid. But the 1 portion MLB can’t impact is wherever NCAA sports are successful general."

Tennessee Volunteers caput manager Tony Vitello warms up his players earlier Game 1 of the bid against the Arkansas Razorbacks astatine Baum-Walker Stadium astatine George Cole Field May 16, 2025, successful Fayetteville, Ark.  (Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

Vitello concluded that NIL has contributed to what helium remembers arsenic a chaotic environment.

"It’s conscionable a mess. … It’s similar you’re driving successful the fog, and you can’t truly spot but astir 100 oregon 200 feet successful beforehand of you. You’re grasping for what’s real, what you tin do, what you can’t do. I’m definite idiosyncratic volition propulsion retired that I did thing wrong, oregon I didn’t bash this. But, overall, it’s precise frustrating erstwhile you don’t cognize the rules to the game."

Tony Vitello of the San Francisco Giants gives an interrogation anterior to his introductory property league arsenic the caller manager of the Giants astatine Oracle Park Oct. 30, 2025, successful San Francisco. (Andy Kuno/San Francisco Giants/Getty Images)

While walking done the disparity betwixt assemblage shot programs, Vitello besides suggested the NIL epoch is counterproductive to the propulsion to person schools vie connected an adjacent playing field.

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"That’s the full constituent of athletics oregon contention is: Let’s find retired who tin bash it better. But erstwhile you truly don’t cognize what the rules of the crippled are oregon they’re truthful lopsided successful favour of Tennessee implicit Middle Tennessee State, it’s benignant of hard to person that nose-to-nose competition."

Vitello replaces Bob Melvin, who departs aft 2 seasons with the Giants. San Francisco has not precocious to the MLB postseason since 2021.

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