When Josh Elander was hired by new Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello as the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator during the summer of 2017, the Volunteers faced a massive rebuilding job.
That is certainly not the case now for Elander, who conducted his first news conference Monday as the coach of the Vols.
“We’re going to keep this thing going,” Elander said. “I love these people in this building, and I love this roster. The high-level prospects and the fundamentals are in this building right now. We don’t have to hunt that down. I really believe in our recruiting classes and the people who are on the way, but we also have a great respect for this league and for what winning requires.”
Elander is the 26th baseball coach in Tennessee history and the first to take over a program that is arguably at the summit of the sport. The Vols are the only team to reach the NCAA tournament’s super regional round in each of the last five seasons, having advanced to the College World Series in three of those years and claiming the national championship in 2024.
Tennessee athletic director Danny White, who last Thursday named pitching coach Frank Anderson as interim coach so Elander could focus on the interview process for the full-time job, introduced Elander on Monday.
“We had a couple of options,” White said. “We could have continued with an interim and had a ton of confidence in Coach Anderson to do that for us, as well as his staff to keep things in place, and do a more traditional search in the spring. Or we could have made a long-term hire to establish a foundation for the future for our baseball program, and that’s ultimately the decision that we made.
“I’m extremely confident in Josh’s leadership and his ability to continue the success we’ve been having and to continue to build on it to continue our dominance as the best baseball program in the country.”
White and Elander agreed on a five-year contract that will pay Elander $1 million annually, or roughly a third of what Vitello was earning before being named manager of the San Francisco Giants last Wednesday.
Although it was less than 48 hours from the time White discussed the process for replacing Vitello to making Elander’s hiring official Saturday through a release, it was an admittedly stressful stretch for Elander.
“The way it went down with Tony — we were so focused on the fall and getting better,” Elander said. “We’re in a very important part of the fall right now, and emotions are crazy. I think this entire staff has a genuine love for this university, and it was scary just to be honest with you. We’re all thrilled for Tony Vitello. What an amazing opportunity to do something that’s never been done before.
“His fingerprints will always be on this program, but when you’re looking at maybe not being able to wear that ‘Power T’ anymore, it’s a pretty scary feeling to be honest.”
Elander said he could “literally go 35 minutes” on thanking former Tennessee players for their support, but he did single out former pitchers Drew Beam and Luke Hochevar, and former position players Jordan Beck, Blake Burke, Chris Burke, Drew Gilbert and Christian Moore.
There is no immediate rush to fill the staff opening that currently exists, said Elander, who plans to continue coaching third base.
“This day is not about me,” Elander said. “It’s about this program and what we’ve accomplished. I can’t wait for you to see Blaine Brown go deep. Henry Ford put a hole in the scoreboard yesterday. The next 100-mile-an-hour arm — it will always be about these guys.”
Elander got choked up on multiple occasions Monday, including when he discussed Vitello and their storybook eight-spring run in Knoxville.
“There are a lot of ways I could go with this,” Elander said. “There are a lot of great memories and a lot of wins and a lot of running around on the road. There was also a lot of dreaming to make this place something great. I really believe our staff did that together.
“I’m so excited for you, and I can’t wait to see you win a World Series. Thank you for taking a chance on me and showing me what it means to leave your soul in the game.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.