The news that everyone has been hoping for came in on Saturday morning. As soon as Tony Vitello revealed that he was leaving Tennessee baseball to join the San Francisco Giants, the calls were incredibly loud for Danny White to not waste any time in hiring Josh Elander to take over.
That's exactly what has happened, with Elander getting the offer he wanted and he wasted no time in accepting. You knew this was going to make a huge impact out on the recruiting trail, as Elander is loved by prospects.
Danny White makes the right call and promotes Josh Elander to Tennessee head coach
Standout 2027 pitcher Cooper Burti quickly let everyone know just how excited he is for the Elander hire. While there was some concern that perhaps Burti and others might back off their pledge once Vitello jumped up to the bigs, that's nothing to worry about with the New Jersey product:
200% committed. 🍊 https://t.co/3CaPHEAwCr
— Cooper Burti (@cooperburti) October 25, 2025
Tennessee commit Cooper Burti can't wait to play for Josh Elander in the future
The fact that Burti said he's now 200 percent committed to Tennessee with Elander in charge sure is telling. Again, he's not going to be the only one who is over the moon, as Elander has been known as a rockstar recruiter and he's been Vitello's right-hand man.
Burti has a bit of a wait to get to Knoxville, but that doesn't mean that people shouldn't be excited about his future in town. Burti committed to the Vols earlier this year, doing so shortly after his visit to meet with Vitello and his staff.
According to GoVols247, at the time of his commitment, Burti had additional visits scheduled to Miami, Vanderbilt and more. However, after some time on campus, he realized that he wanted his future to be with the Vols.
Per Prep Baseball report, the future Vol is ranked the No. 1 player out of New Jersey for his class and the No. 77 player overall. There's still plenty of time until he can sign with Tennessee and other powerhouses will surely do what they can to flip him. However, Burti was waiting for White to name a new Tennessee head coach and him going with Elander has been a huge relief for a lot of people, including Burti and his family.