Doubt Tony Vitello and Tennessee at Your Own Risk
Image: marca.com
By Jonathan Reed
The defending national champion Tennessee Volunteers play on Friday inside the newly-renovated Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
A number of legends are gone, some off to the MLB while others have begun their careers outside of sports. One stuck around to coach the next wave of Volunteers. One is the current face of the program (from the players’ side, don’t be dumb) charged with leading the Vols back to Omaha.
There are plenty of questions about how the lineup and rotation will shake out between now and conference play, but Tony Vitello provided at least some early season clarity in his media availability on Tuesday morning.
Ole Miss transfer Liam Doyle will get first crack at being the Friday night starter, and, in a bit of surprising news, Marcus Phillips will be the first to get the ball on Saturday. Who is starting Sunday? TBD. But it does seem increasingly clear that a rotation spot will be claimed sooner rather than later, and maybe actually much sooner than anticipated, by AJ Russell.
My good close personal friend Tony Vitello and I talked about it last week, but the nonconference part of the schedule will present the final opportunities for players who want to crack the every day lineup. Last year, that competition for the DH spot went all the way into June.
But, like I told my good close personal friend Tony V, the coaching staff has earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to finding the optimal coalescence of his roster. Crazy Ass Frank deserves the benefit of the doubt when it comes to having his pitchers ready to go, which is why I am so excited to see the growth and development in Marcus Phillips. Frank has earned that. The Tennessee lineup is going to hit and score runs just as the sun will rise in the East and set in the West.
The prognosticators can all find their other teams to pick. Yeah, yeah, this will be the year Arkansas does it. For sure, Texas A&M is loaded. Georgia is locked and loaded to take a huge step. Don’t forget about Florida and LSU! Yada, yada yada.
There’s a reason that Tennessee is listed as the current gambling favorite to win it all. The money learned a tough lesson last year when they had Tennessee as a fringe top 10 team with 20-1 odds to win it all. They are refusing to make that same mistake again this year. Do not doubt the Vols.
They’ve earned that benefit after running the league over the last four years as they’ve gone 83-37 in conference play, won the SEC regular season twice, won the SEC tournament twice, made it to Omaha 3 times, and won a national championship.