Know the LSU/Tony Vitello topic is a hot topic on the board and will continue to be until Vitello says that he's staying or LSU hires someone else, but wanted to take a couple of hours to finish coverage of Tennessee's second win over Alabama this week, gather my thoughts and talk to some folks before voicing an opinion. So here's some initial thoughts on the LSU/TV topic:
- LSU is the best baseball job in the SEC and probably the best job in the country. All of the resources and support is there for the program to compete for a National Championship each and every year. It would be like Kentucky basketball or Alabama football opening up. TV would be crazy not to listen.
- But I don't know that TV is at the top of LSU's list at the moment. ECU's Cliff Godwin is thought to be the leading candidate as of today. Godwin is a GREAT coach and former LSU assistant (2006-2008). Florida's Kevin O'Sullivan is also thought to be at the top of LSU's list and LSU would love to have him, but there may be a skeleton or two in that closet that may prevent that marriage.
- As for A&M, there's a lot of rumors going around about the Aggies offering a ton of money to TCU's Jim Schlossnagle. Money that would be really hard to turn down. And no, I would not be worried about TV and TCU if that did take place. If I'm Tennessee, I'm also not as worried about an A&M and TV marriage as much as I once would have been.
- In regards to TV and Tennessee, there continues to be great dialogue between the two. TV's main focus is winning a National Championship, but there have still been conversations about potential facility upgrades as there have been for awhile now. Randy Boyd and Donde Plowman were at South Carolina last weekend and toured the stadium with Tony Vitello.
- I continue to sense plenty of optimism about Tony Vitello staying in Knoxville. Doesn't mean that it will happen, things can change on a dime, but Tennessee has a lot going for itself. LSU is a job to keep an eye on, it's one of the very few jobs that I think could steal TV away from Tennessee, but I also believe the money will be available to make sure Tony Vitello stays in Knoxville. It'll likely take him being one of the highest paid coaches in the country to stay, on top of facility upgrades, and I believe that Tennessee is going to go to the lengths necessary to keep him.
- And if Tennessee can just make it through this offseason, I don't believe this is going to be a continuous conversation every offseason. Just have to make it through the next month or so and it goes away for a very long time.
Wouldn't you love to be Tony Vitello right now?
- LSU is the best baseball job in the SEC and probably the best job in the country. All of the resources and support is there for the program to compete for a National Championship each and every year. It would be like Kentucky basketball or Alabama football opening up. TV would be crazy not to listen.
- But I don't know that TV is at the top of LSU's list at the moment. ECU's Cliff Godwin is thought to be the leading candidate as of today. Godwin is a GREAT coach and former LSU assistant (2006-2008). Florida's Kevin O'Sullivan is also thought to be at the top of LSU's list and LSU would love to have him, but there may be a skeleton or two in that closet that may prevent that marriage.
- As for A&M, there's a lot of rumors going around about the Aggies offering a ton of money to TCU's Jim Schlossnagle. Money that would be really hard to turn down. And no, I would not be worried about TV and TCU if that did take place. If I'm Tennessee, I'm also not as worried about an A&M and TV marriage as much as I once would have been.
- In regards to TV and Tennessee, there continues to be great dialogue between the two. TV's main focus is winning a National Championship, but there have still been conversations about potential facility upgrades as there have been for awhile now. Randy Boyd and Donde Plowman were at South Carolina last weekend and toured the stadium with Tony Vitello.
- I continue to sense plenty of optimism about Tony Vitello staying in Knoxville. Doesn't mean that it will happen, things can change on a dime, but Tennessee has a lot going for itself. LSU is a job to keep an eye on, it's one of the very few jobs that I think could steal TV away from Tennessee, but I also believe the money will be available to make sure Tony Vitello stays in Knoxville. It'll likely take him being one of the highest paid coaches in the country to stay, on top of facility upgrades, and I believe that Tennessee is going to go to the lengths necessary to keep him.
- And if Tennessee can just make it through this offseason, I don't believe this is going to be a continuous conversation every offseason. Just have to make it through the next month or so and it goes away for a very long time.
Wouldn't you love to be Tony Vitello right now?
Last edited:
