Vitello’s first national championship during his seventh season as head coach at Tennessee comes in his fifth NCAA Tournament appearance, and in UT’s third trip to Omaha in the past four seasons. UT is the only SEC program and one of just two teams nationally (Virginia) to have appeared in the College World Series in three of the last four seasons (2021, 2023, 2024). It just completed its first back-to-back trips.
“No better team to win for the University of Tennessee than a bunch of guys who were truly the definition of a team,” Vitello said after the Vols won. “And no better play for our program to, I think, be the winning run on that slide, a guy (Hunter Ensley) that’s just built with a ton of grit. And his teammates follow his leadership. And it’s a great example of how this group got things done.”
Tennessee is 27-11 overall in its five NCAA Tournament appearances under Vitello. His 25 NCAA Tournament wins rank second in UT history behind the legendary Rod Delmonico, who is the program’s all-time wins leader overall (699) and in the NCAA Tournament (27). Delmonico went 27-19 overall in eight NCAA Tournament appearances while leading the Vols to the College World Series three times (1995, 2001, 2005).
