The NCAA Division I head coach landscape is heating up before the start of the 2024 fall ball season and the 2025 regular season.
Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello, the National Coach of the Year, signed a five-year contract extension until June 30, 2029, to remain in Knoxville with the 2024 national champions, their first in program history. Vitello signed the extension on August 23, Tennessee Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics Danny White announced.
Vitello will earn up to $3 million until the end of the 2029 regular season and is the first head coach in college baseball to be paid that high.
Vitello has been with the Volunteers program since the 2018 season after he left the assistant coaching job with the University of Arkansas after the 2017 season.
The Tennessee Volunteers made history in 2024 as the first Southeastern conference team to reach the 60-win mark in a single season and just the fourth conference team to win the conference regular-season title, the conference tournament title, and the NCAA Division I World Series in the same season.
Vitello’s head coaching record is 295-112, and he leads all of the NCAA active coaches with a .725 winning percentage for the last five seasons.
The Volunteers have made three appearances to Omaha in the last four seasons, winning four combined SEC championships, and three SEC eastern division titles.
Tennessee was the first No.1 ranked program to win the national championship since the University of Miami in 1999.
Things are cooking up for the Texas Longhorns in their first year in the SEC down in the state’s capital.
Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle inked a seven-year contract on August 22 that will pay him $1 million in the first two seasons, then $2.68 million annually over the next five.
Schlossnagle helped the Texas A&M University Aggies reach the National Championship Series against Tennessee and lost 6-5 in the deciding game three to Tennessee at Charles Schwab Field on June 24.
Schlossnagle replaced former Texas head coach David Pierce, who was fired after eight seasons that included three Big 12 Conference championship titles and made it to Omaha three times.
Schlossnagle has a 945-451 career record, with seven appearances in the College World Series alongside a 59-36 record in the NCAA tournament.
Texas is paying Texas A&M a $2.7 million buyout as part of hiring Schlossnagle when he announced his decision to leave College Station on June 26.
The Longhorns moved from the Big 12 Conference to the SEC on July 1.
Texas and Texas A&M will play in the same conference for the first time since the 2012 season.
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WBN NCAA: https://worldbaseball.com/league/ncaa/
Photo Credit: Head coach Jim Schlossnagle of the Texas A&M Aggies looks on before the game against the Tennessee Volunteers during the Division I Men’s Baseball Championship held at Charles Schwab Field on June 22, 2024 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
