In the wake of Brian Snitker's announcement that he is retiring as the Atlanta Braves manager, there has been no shortage of takes out there as to who should replace him as the Braves' skipper. Bench coach Walt Weiss is a popular option as an internal candidate that the clubhouse is very familiar with. Skip Schumaker was a popular external name earlier this year, but now it feels like he is going to take over the Rangers' job and former catcher David Ross has his supporters as well. However, there is a chance Atlanta could go with a much more outside-the-box option from the college ranks.
Coaches of any sport moving from the college ranks to the professional leagues have a spotty track record at best. Some high profile failures include Urban Meyer and Bobby Petrino in the NFL and Rick Pitino in the NBA. Just because a guy can win at the college level is no guarantee whatsoever that they can succeed against professionals and the track record of baseball coaches doing so is a short list even compared to other sports.
However, The Athletic's Braves beat writer David O'Brien just floated a really intriguing option to replace Snitker in University of Tennessee manager Tony Vitello. While such a move would come with a lot of risk, hiring Vitello may not be as crazy an idea as it sounds.
Tennessee Head Baseball Coach Tony Vitello has been named as a possible candidate for the Atlanta Braves manager vacancy:
— FOX Sports Knoxville (@FOXSportsKnox) October 1, 2025
The Athletic’s David O’Brien named Vitello as a possible option for Atlanta following longtime manager Brain Snitker’s retirement.
“If the Braves think… pic.twitter.com/mTMuVQJldQ
Replacing Brian Snitker with Tony Vitello may be the high risk, high reward move the Braves need to make
Casual baseball fans are probably not aware of Vitello, but there is no question that he is one of the best college baseball coaches out there period. While he doesn't have any experience in the big leagues as a player or a coach, Vitello's tenures at Mizzou, TCU, Arkansas, and finally Tennessee starting in 2018 were wildly successful both in terms of recruitment as well as results on the field.
If any college coach is going to be successful in MLB, they are either going to have to either start over and slowly work their way back up the coaching ranks in an organization or come from a high profile college program in a legitimately difficult conference with a track record of producing players that are ready to compete in the majors. Vitello checks all of the boxes in the latter category as Tennessee has become a SEC powerhouse that won the College World Series in 2024 and a program that consistently produces top prospect talent.
The trick, of course, is translating that success to the majors and there is no guarantee that would happen. However, if Vitello were hired and surrounded by plenty of experienced assistant coaches, Atlanta could have the best of both worlds. Vitello would bring youth, a strong background in advanced analytics and translating them into best practices for the modern game of baseball, and a great eye for talent.
Given that the Braves are firmly in the middle of their competitive window right now, perhaps taking this sort of risk would be outside of Alex Anthopoulos' comfort zone. There is also the matter of cost as Vitello is a very high profile college coach and would probably require a substantial salary to be lured away. However, if the Braves want to truly bring in a new voice and set of eyes to shepherd the team forward and bring some fresh ideas to the table, Atlanta could do a lot worse than giving Vitello a shot.