Tony Vitello is now the highest-paid coach in college baseball following a groundbreaking contract after a remarkable season for Tennessee baseball.

Vitello’s new contract awards him $3 million a year, marking a record-setting five-year agreement with Tennessee that was finalized on Friday after the Volunteers secured their first national championship in program history. He has become the first known college baseball coach to earn $3 million a year. This contract will last until June 30, 2029, and includes a signing bonus of $250,000, as announced by Tennessee and Athletics Director Danny White.

“Tony and his team have built the top baseball program in the country, and we are thrilled to announce this long-term extension to keep him at Rocky Top,” White said in a statement from the school.

Vitello is now entitled to a $200,000 bonus for claiming the 2024 College World Series, replacing the previous $140,000 bonus from his former agreement. The revised contract specifies that a new agreement with Tennessee and Vitello took effect on May 31, 2024, though this information was never formally released.

“We wanted to ensure we secured what we anticipated: our athletic department and coaching staff wanting to partner for a long time,” Vitello said in the same statement.

Vitello has led Tennessee to the College World Series three times in the last four years, achieving a 295-112 win-loss record at the school. Over the past five seasons, the Volunteers have the most victories nationally with 226 and made history as the first SEC team ever to win 60 games in a single season. They boast a leading .779 winning percentage during this period and have recorded at least 50 wins in three of the last four seasons.

Under Vitello, Tennessee has claimed two SEC regular-season championships and two SEC Tournament titles, sweeping both in 2022 and 2024. He also received national coach of the year honors from D1Baseball, Baseball America, and the American Baseball Coaches Association following the Volunteers’ CWS victory.

Details of Tony Vitello’s Contract and Salary with Tennessee Baseball

Aged 45, Vitello has doubled the salary from his previous contract after guiding the Volunteers to their most successful season ever. He will now earn more in a year than the total value of his initial five-year contract with Tennessee.

No SEC coach in a public university earned over $2 million in 2024. The salary of Vanderbilt’s coach Tim Corbin is not publicly recorded due to the school’s private status.

The new head coach at Texas, Jim Schlossnagle, who left Texas A&M after the Volunteers defeated the Aggies for the CWS trophy, inked a seven-year deal that will pay him $2.68 million annually for the last five years of the contract, according to the Austin American-Statesman. He will earn $1 million during the first two years of this agreement to help balance the buyout Texas paid to Texas A&M for his hiring.

In July 2021, Vitello agreed to a contract extension that set his annual salary at $1.5 million through June 2026, totaling $7.5 million for five years.

After the 2019 season, Vitello received a raise and extension that averaged $621,000 annually before incentives, amounting to a total of $3.105 million, scheduled to last until the 2024 season.

His initial contract from 2017 was a five-year agreement with an average annual salary of $493,000.

Tennessee hired Vitello in 2017 following a fruitful term as an assistant coach at Arkansas. He previously worked as an assistant coach at TCU and Missouri, where he played before starting his coaching career in 2003. In his first season, the Volunteers posted a record of 29-27, improved to 40-21, and reached the NCAA Tournament in 2019, breaking a 14-year postseason absence. Since then, they have become a national powerhouse.

Tony Vitello’s Bonus Structure and Buyout Terms

The newly established contract for Vitello includes a more attractive bonus scheme. He can earn up to $200,000 in bonuses each season, awarded for winning the national championship.

He would receive $160,000 for making it to the finals of the College World Series, and $140,000 for The Vols stand to gain bonuses for significant achievements, including $120,000 for reaching the College World Series, $120,000 for hosting a super regional as a top-eight national seed, $100,000 for making a super regional, $80,000 for an SEC championship during the regular season or tournament, $60,000 for hosting a regional as a top 16 seed, and $40,000 for qualifying for a regional.

Vitello’s bonuses are determined by the highest achievement accomplished by the team.

If Tennessee decides to terminate Vitello’s contract without cause, the university must pay him the remaining amount on his contract. If he chooses to leave before June 30, 2025, he would have to reimburse the university $4 million. This amount decreases by $1 million for the next two years and then becomes $800,000 from July 1, 2027, to June 30, 2028. It further reduces to $400,000 from July 1, 2028, to June 30, 2029.

If athletic director White is no longer at the university, Vitello’s buyout fee for leaving is halved.