Former Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello slams NIL era: ‘It’s just a disaster’
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Since the arrival of the transfer portal and the rise of name, image and likeness (NIL), there have been countless debates about how to create and adjust a system to establish guardrails when necessary.
As the college sports landscape has adapted to NIL, the gap between college programs with deep-pocketed boosters and alumni and smaller schools with fewer financial resources has continued to widen.
Although he was in a position to potentially benefit from those perceived advantages during his time as head coach at Tennessee, Tony Vitello criticized NIL’s shortcomings.
“It’s a disaster,” Vitello told Taylor Lewan and Will Compton during a recent episode of the “Bussin’ With The Boys” podcast.
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Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello during Game 1 of the NCAA baseball tournament Fayetteville Super Regional against Arkansas at Baum-Walker Stadium on June 7, 2025. (Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
Vitello coached the Volunteers to the program’s first national championship in 2024. Despite his lack of coaching experience at the MLB level, Vitello was named manager of the San Francisco Giants last month.
While reflecting on his successful tenure in Tennessee, Vitello shared some of his complaints with the current NIL system.
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“It’s a disaster,” Vitello told Lewan and Compton. “We all have thoughts that you dream a little bigger. I have this weird fantasy or vision of, OK, can the university and the MLB merge a little bit and help each other? I certainly shouldn’t be the sponsor of either. But I can connect the right people and make this a little more seamless. But the only part that MLB can’t affect is where NCAA sports are in general.”
Tennessee Volunteers head coach Tony Vitello warms up his players before Game 1 of the series against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Baum-Walker Stadium at George Cole Field on May 16, 2025, in Fayetteville, Arkansas. (Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
Vitello concluded that NIL has contributed to what he remembers as a chaotic environment.
“It’s just a mess… It’s like you’re driving in a fog, and you can’t really see more than 100 or 200 feet in front of you. You’re holding on to what’s real, what you can do, what you can’t do. I’m sure someone will say I did something wrong or I didn’t do this. But in general, it’s very frustrating when you don’t know the rules of the game.”
Tony Vitello of the San Francisco Giants gives an interview before his introductory press conference as the new manager of the Giants at Oracle Park on October 30, 2025 in San Francisco. (Andy Kuno/San Francisco Giants/Getty Images)
While analyzing the disparity between college baseball programs, Vitello also suggested that the NIL era is counterproductive to the push for schools to compete on a level playing field.
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“That’s the whole point of athletics or competition: Let’s find out who can do it better. But when you don’t really know what the rules of the game are or they’re so lopsided in favor of Tennessee over Middle Tennessee State, it’s kind of hard to have that head-to-head competition.”
Vitello replaces Bob Melvin, who is leaving after two seasons with the Giants. San Francisco has not advanced to the MLB postseason since 2021.
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Chantz Martin is a sports writer for News Digital.