KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (story courtesy of UT Athletics) – Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics Danny White announced on Tuesday that Frank Anderson will serve as the interim head coach for the Tennessee baseball team following the departure of Tony Vitello to become the next manager of the San Francisco Giants.
Anderson will serve as interim head coach throughout the process of identifying and selecting the next head coach of the program.
“I’ve asked Frank Anderson to serve as our interim head coach,” White said in his press conference on Tuesday afternoon addressing the situation. “The terminology I used with Frank was, ‘I need a shepherd right now, I need a day-to-day leader.'”
A two-time national champion, Anderson is in his ninth season on staff with the Volunteers and has been instrumental in helping build Tennessee into one of the nation’s elite programs.
Widely considered one of the premier pitching coaches in the country, Anderson has a wealth of experience as both an assistant and a head coach at the NCAA Division I level. Prior to working at Tennessee and a successful stint as the pitching coach at Houston (2013-17), Anderson served as head coach for Oklahoma State for nine seasons (2004-12), leading the Cowboys to six NCAA Regional appearances as well as a trip to the NCAA Super Regionals in 2007.
During his time in Knoxville, UT has made six NCAA tournament appearances (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025), five straight NCAA Super Regionals (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025) and three trips to the Men’s College World Series (2021, 2023, 2024) while setting numerous program, SEC and NCAA records along the way. Tennessee has also claimed four combined SEC Titles in that stretch, winning both the regular season and tournament crowns in 2022 and 2024.
Tennessee reached the mountain top by winning the first national championship in program history in 2024, defeating Texas A&M in the Men’s College World Series Finals. The Volunteers became the first SEC team to ever win 60 games in a season, finishing with an incredible 60-13 overall record. UT also became just the fourth program in history to win the SEC regular season crown, the SEC Tournament title and the National Championship in the same year.
Anderson has overseen the pitching for the Vols since arriving in 2018. Under his guidance, the Tennessee has consistently ranked among the nation’s best pitching staffs, finishing in the top 20 nationally in ERA, WHIP and strikeout-to-walk ratio in each of the past seven seasons.
Anderson was tabbed the 2022 Rawlings Pitching Coach of the Year after leading a staff that finished No. 1 nationally in ERA (2.51), strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.24), WHIP (1.00) and walks allowed per nine innings (2.48). The Vols also set single-season program records in ERA , WHIP, opponent batting average (.199), strikeouts (695), strikeouts/nine innings (10.5) and walks allowed/nine innings en route to a then-program record 57 wins while winning both the SEC regular season and tournament titles.
Throughout his storied coaching career, Anderson has coached more than 100 pitchers that have been selected in the Major League Baseball Draft, including 10 first rounders (four at Tennessee).
During his eight seasons at UT, Anderson has had 25 pitchers hear their names called in the MLB Draft, with at least three being selected in each of the last four drafts (five in 2025, three in 2024, program-record six in 2023, four in 2022). Four of those 25 players have been selected in the first round in Liam Doyle (2025 – St. Louis Cardinals – 5th overall), Marcus Phillips (2025 – Boston Red Sox – 33rd overall), Chase Dollander (2023 – Colorado Rockies – 9th overall) and Garrett Crochet (2020 – Chicago White Sox – 11th overall).
Before his nine-year stint as head coach at Oklahoma State, Anderson was the pitching coach on legendary head coach Augie Garrido’s staff at Texas for four years (2000-03). During his time in Austin, Anderson helped lead the Longhorns to three consecutive Men’s College World Series appearances (2001-03) and a national championship in 2002.
Other stops for Anderson included 10 years as an assistant at Texas Tech (1990-99), three seasons at Howard College (1987-89) and three years as an assistant at his alma mater, Emporia State (1983-85). In total, Anderson has been a part of Division I coaching staffs that have advanced to 24 NCAA Regionals, 10 NCAA Super Regionals and have made six trips to Omaha.
Anderson is a native of Grant, Nebraska, and earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from Emporia State in 1983 before going on to attain his master’s degree from the school in 1985. Prior to attending ESU, Anderson played two seasons at the University of Nebraska at Kearney and was a junior college All-American at Mid-Plains Junior College in North Platte, Nebraska.
Anderson and his wife, Sandra, have two children: a daughter Katelyn, and a son, Brett, who has spent 13 seasons as a pitcher in the Major Leagues.
Frank Anderson, interim UT Baseball Coach (photo courtesy of UT Athletics)
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (Story courtesy of WVLT) – The Tony Vitello era of Tennessee baseball has come to an end, sources at the University of Tennessee confirmed to WVLT Sports.
After eight seasons as Tennessee’s head coach, Vitello is set to become the manager of Major League Baseball’s San Francisco Giants, marking an unprecedented move in baseball history.
The 47-year-old Vitello has become the first college coach to immediately become a manager without any prior professional experience.
Vitello earned himself a contract extension in August of 2024 that came with not only a substantial raise, but a hefty buyout clause. Unless the coach made some sort of deal with Tennessee or the Giants — and there’s been no official word on whether or not that has happened — Vitello is on the hook for $3 million.
Tennessee experienced a baseball resurgence under the Missouri-native. Vitello posted a 341-131 record, including a 125-85 mark in SEC play.
The coach, who has already gone down in Vol history with the program’s first-ever national championship in 2024, didn’t take long to start earning accolades when he arrived on Rocky Top in 2017.
He would see his “BaseVols” reach a top-25 ranking in his first year. Vitello would also lead the team to its first 40-win season since 2005 in his second season, then go on to reach 300 career wins faster than any other Tennessee coach ever had. Under his leadership, the Vols made three College World Series appearances in 2021, 2023 and, of course, 2024.
That performance, bolstered by two SEC regular season titles and two SEC tournament championships, helped Vitello’s Tennessee become a master recruiter. The program developed 10 first-round picks during Vitello’s time at Tennessee.
Many of those recruits were present for a major career moment of Vitello’s: heading up a player-packed championship celebration parade attended by thousands in downtown Knoxville.
In seven full seasons, Vitello’s teams won 40 or more games six times, including a 60-win season in 2024, which culminated in that first national championship.
