VTTW Board Index

…regarding Vitello and LSU. Someone talk me down off the ledge (looking at you, Herb).  :frown:

A LOT of SPECULATION but little on facts
Per the VQ staff TV is concentrating on the CWS
Till then, EVERYTHING is speculation from a wounded fan base

I personally think he stays, but given the last 10 year, who the hell knows :dunno:

I wish I could, but for the first time I believe there is at least an even chance that we lose him. 

Hearing that LSU has backchanneled a projected $2.2 million per year number to Jimmy Sexton if they get to Vitello on the short list.  And I am hearing that he's next after Brian O'Conner of Virginia. 

If it happens, it happens.  There's no way Vitello turns down LSU.  That's the best job in college baseball, hands down. They already have the facilities, support, and roster in place to be immediate CWS contenders. 

And again if it happens, as long as the UT powers that be would continue with the plans to redo Lindsey Nelson and upgrade the program we will be able to attract a quality baseball coach.  We aren't going back to Serrano days. 

And by the way, throughout all of this, I am reminded of pretty much the only statement that Derek Dooley ever made that I agree with:  It's never about the money, only about the amount of the money.  TV likes his expensive toys. 

Sorry, but I don’t accept that. If LSU offers 2.2M, you beat it. Period. Baseball is literally the only good thing we have going right now, and history says that we WOULD go back to the Serrano days. In fact, I recall that most were saying that Serrano was a slam dunk when he was hired, and we know how that turned out. Great baseball coaches don’t just fall in UT’s lap very often. Now that we have one, we have to do whatever it takes to keep him, especially considering the shape that the rest of the AD is in.

This is Danny White’s first big test. I’m sure he was expecting to have a honeymoon period, but that’s not happening. It sucks for him that a whole string of his predecessors let baseball languish for decades, but it now falls on him to fix it.

Pay the man. Pay his staff. Give him whatever he wants facility-wise. If this fanbase takes yet another punch to the gut, you’re going to lose a huge chunk of them forever. Good luck finding donors for that big new facilities campaign if you lose the most popular coach on campus 5 months into your tenure.

I was thinking the exact same thing.

I think Vitello is gone if LSU offers, and I think his players know that and that was reflected in their play on Sunday. I'm not even sure Danny White can do anything to stop it, because LSU is simply a better job than Tennessee, with more to offer. But it's about to get very ugly for White if Vitello leaves. There's a not insignificant chunk of this fan base that hasn't forgiven him for what was perceived as a buddy hire when he brought Huepel on board. When White criticized UT fans' negativity, I'm not sure he envisioned at the time that he would lose the school's most popular coach in years just five months later. Negativity is about to go through the roof.

I understand the emotions of it. 

But, UT is not going to match that offer for a baseball coach.  They just aren't.  Nor would anybody else in the country.  Baseball is a different world at LSU than it is anywhere else. 

And I disagree on returning to Serrano days, if they build a new facility and make the same commitment that they were willing to give Vitello.  Will they be a national 3seed every year?  Of course not, but they will continue to be a very good to great program. 

And, no, there's nothing Danny White can do if LSU offers Vitello.  But the reality is that Peyton Manning and Larry Pratt have put together the opportunity to keep Vitello, not White. 

Is there really a chunk of the fanbase upset about the "buddy hire"?  If so, they need to get a grip. The proper way to look at that is, "Thank God he's buddies with Heupel, we can at least get him". 

Sadly I am not joking.  UT football is just not an attractive job these days.  :banghead:

If White were to hire Greg Lovelady from UCF to replace Vitello I promise you there would be a Schiano Sunday type uprising.  There are far better getable candidates out there than Lovelady.  

If Vitello leaves I wish him the best. He did a phenomenal job.

yup

Hope he stays

So if this is accurate then just sign the damned contract already, TV. 

https://www.theadvertiser.com/story/sports/college/lsu/2021/06/23/lsu-baseball-coach-finalists-jay-johnson-cliff-godwin-link-jarrett/5322413001/