Tennessee officially introduced Josh Elander as its 26th head baseball coach on Tuesday.
The University elevated the longtime associate head coach just three days after Tony Vitello departed to manage the San Francisco Giants.
Elander, who has served on staff since 2017, received an emotional and overwhelmingly positive response from players, VFLs, and recruits.
Video from the reveal showed players jumping from their seats, cheering and embracing as Elander entered the room.
The celebration highlighted the program’s confidence in the promotion.
Athletic Director Danny White said, “It just shows how health the culture is, how much they all care about each other and we have a really talented group. I think we win a lot of baseball games this spring.”
“I cannot wait to go into battle with them this spring,” Elander said. “I know change can be hard, but this is an incredible opportunity.”
Elander arrived in Knoxville with Vitello eight years ago and helped guide the program’s rapid rise from the bottom of the SEC to a perennial national contender.
Tennessee has reached the College World Series several times under the staff’s direction. Growth and dominance that’s led to a $109 million renovation of Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The process of becoming the next man to lead the way for the Volunteers has been an overwhleming time for Elander.
“It made me soft. I didn’t want the guys at practice to know what was going on,” Elander said of the outpouring of support. “I’ll never take their support for granted.”
Dozens of former players publicly backed the hire and several recruits reaffirmed their commitments. The program’s continuity, Elander said, will be rooted in the culture built over the last eight seasons.
“Tony, thank you for taking a chance on me and showing what it means to put your soul into a game,” Elander said.
During his tenure as hitting coach and recruiting coordinator, Tennessee signed eight top-15 recruiting classes, including back-to-back No. 1 classes in 2024 and 2025, according to Perfect Game. The Volunteers also led the nation in runs and home runs in 2022 and 2024.
A former All-American at TCU, Elander was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the sixth round of the 2012 MLB Draft and spent four seasons in their minor league system before beginning his coaching career.
“Being consistent over a long period of time has been our magic here,” he said. “It’s authentic and different, and we don’t expect that to change.”
Tennessee opens the 2025 season in four months at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, against UCLA.
