Tony Vitello will be the new Vols baseball head coach, UT athletic director John Currie announced Wednesday.
Vitello will be introduced during a press conference Friday. He replaces Dave Serrano, who announced his resignation last month.
Vitello, 38, comes to Rocky Top from the University of Arkansas, where he has spent the past four years as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.
He has coached Division I baseball for 14 years, including stops at his alma mater the University of Missouri and Texas Christian University.
In a statement, Currie said he believes Vitello is "the right person to build our program into a perennial contender and bring championship baseball back to Knoxville.”
“We are thrilled to bring Coach Vitello’s passion for baseball, relationship building and student-athlete development into the Tennessee athletics family,” Currie said. “Proven experience evaluating and recruiting at the highest level and in the grind of the SEC was an absolute prerequisite, and Coach Vitello checks all the boxes.
Learn more about Coach Vitello below. Looking forward to a fun spring in Lindsey Nelson Stadium in 2018! https://t.co/SbCJWrBG46
— John Currie (@John_Currie) June 7, 2017
Vitello has agreed to a five-year contract with an average base salary of $493,000, UT said.
“I consider myself incredibly blessed to be a part of the athletic department at the University of Tennessee," Vitello said in a statement. "It’s the ultimate combination of an elite conference, a state school with great in-state players, a phenomenal city and outstanding tradition that exists not just with baseball, but across all sports."