Tennessee baseball's coaching search is in full swing after Tony Vitello announced he will be leaving Rocky Top for the San Francisco Giants.
He's the first coach in modern baseball to go straight from college to the Major Leagues because of what he built at Tennessee. Now, Athletic Director Danny White and the Tennessee administration are tasked with finding his replacement.
The first interview Tennessee conducted was with Coastal Carolina coach Kevin Schnall, who led the Chanticleers to the College World Series this past season.
Tony Vitello has built a strong foundation for Tennessee's baseball program to move forward and remain a national title contender, and Schnall is the type of coach who could pick up right where Vitello left off on day one.
He was on staff at Coastal when they won the College World Series in 2016 and didn't wait to get the Chants back to Omaha in his first season as the head man in Conway. He led Coastal to a 56-13 record in year one and could make a big impact at Tennessee.
Schnall is a Coastal Carolina guy, playing for the Chants from 1995 to 1999 before being drafted by the Cincinnati Reds. He played two seasons in the Reds' farm system with the rookie-level Gulf Coast League Reds and Billings Mustangs, and Single-A Dayton Dragons.
He returned to Conway in 2001 as an assistant coach and remained with the Chants through the 2012 season. After a few years with UCF, he returned to Coastal in 2016 as the associate head coach, and after 21 seasons with Coastal since 2001, he was named head coach last year.
He fits the type of coach White is looking for based on past coaching searches. He is a hard worker, a persistent recruiter, and a fiery coach who fits the baseball program and would fit perfectly in Tennessee's athletic department.
Schnall was an assistant coach at UCF for one season under Danny White. The Knights went 31-27 that season and led the American Athletic Conference with 66 home runs, which was good enough for the sixth-most home runs in the nation; a league-leading .294 batting average, and 12th-highest slugging percentage in college baseball.
White and Schnall's connection at UCF could be good enough to bring him to Rocky Top after a successful first season at Coastal.
Schnall recently signed a contract extension through 2030 as Coastal tries to keep him on the beach. His contract gave him a raise to $500,000 annually, but Coastal won't be able to compete with Tennessee if Schnall wants to come to Rocky Top.