TCU baseball head coach Jim Schlossnagle announced the hiring of Tony Vitello as an assistant coach/recruiting coordinator. Vitello comes to TCU after spending the last eight seasons as the recruiting coordinator at Missouri.
"We searched nationwide for the right fit for our program, and Tony clearly emerged as one of the nation's most aggressive, hard-working and knowledgeable recruiters," said Schlossnagle. "He comes widely recommended and has been a major part of Missouri's outstanding baseball program over the last several years."
"The timing could not be better to join the baseball family at TCU," said Vitello. "The athletic department as a whole is taking off, but the baseball program recently impacted people nationwide with the exposure they earned in Omaha."
In his eight seasons at Missouri, the Tigers made the postseason seven times. Vitello was a three-year letterwinner for Missouri from 2000-02 before joining the staff as a volunteer assistant in 2003. He was promoted to a full-time assistant coach in 2004. He has served primarily as the pitching coach, while assisting with the hitters and serving as the first base coach.
"He is an outstanding teacher and coach," remarked Schlossnagle. "The fact that he is a former infielder who has been coaching pitchers at a very high level proved to me that he is a tremendous teacher regardless of the skill or area of the game. I'm excited for our current players to get the opportunity to improve under his watch and be a part of the energy he will bring to our program."
Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball have routinely ranked Vitello's recruiting classes among the top 25 nationally. His 2008 class was ranked No. 11 by Baseball America and three of the last four years, his classes have been ranked in the top 25 by Baseball America.
As the pitching coach at Missouri, Vitello's staff has consistently been one of the top in the Big 12, including a 3.36 ERA that led the Big 12 and ranked 11th nationally in 2006.
During his tenure, Vitello recruited and developed 19 pitchers who were drafted by major league teams, including current major leaguers Max Scherzer and Doug Mathis and recent first-round picks Aaron Crow and Kyle Gibson.
"Living in Fort Worth is going to be tremendous," raved Vitello. "The way the community has fully embraced TCU baseball is only going to add to the program's momentum. I am anxious to learn from two coaches as accomplished as Coach Schlossnagle and Coach Randy Mazey, but above all I am eager to work alongside our players to see what kind of progress we can make from one day to the next."
■ MU pitching coach headed to TCU (columbiatribune.com)
Tony Vitello arrived at Missouri as an infielder without many prospects. When his playing days concluded, he reinvented himself as a pitching coach.
He developed into one of the hottest up-and-coming assistants in college baseball.
But for Vitello to reach his goal of becoming a head coach, he needed a new challenge.
Yesterday, Vitello accepted a position as assistant coach yesterday with TCU in Fort Worth, Texas. He will be working with the infielders and hitters while serving as the Horned Frogs’ recruiting coordinator.
“I’m extremely jacked up to be here, because it’s a new challenge,” Vitello said in a phone interview last night. “It’s a good environment here. And it’s a little breath of fresh air in my career.”
[Trrip note: Matt Nestor goes on to talk about the process that led to this hiring, and talks to Nick Tepesch on how this will affect his decision]
■ Coaching carousel still hot and heavy (CollegeBaseball.Rivals.com)
In another high profile assistant opening, TCU – as we first reported – filled the spot vacated by now Houston coach Todd Whitting with Tony Vitello, who previously was an excellent assistant at Missouri.
[Trrip Note: "First reported" after it was reported here at SimmonsField.com ]
No comments:
Post a Comment