Tony Vitello's Tennessee baseball press conferences just wild, even at College World Series | Estes

OMAHA, Neb. – What do baseball’s Dan Uggla, basketball’s Shawn Kemp and hockey’s Bob Probert have in common with the College World Series?

Nothing.

Unless you’re Tony Vitello.

Tennessee baseball’s coach name-dropped all three during recent press conferences in Omaha, along with Michael Jordan, Peyton Manning and, most notably, a quote from Jim Carrey’s movie character Ace Ventura. (“Why don’t you cry about it, saddlebags.”)

It’s a wild, wonderful ride, these Vitello press conferences. Pretty sure he doesn’t know where he's going, making it impressive how he'll get to any topic imaginable in just a few moves.

Probert got a shoutout with Vitello’s marveling about hockey teams shaking hands after fighting through a playoff series. "Took me a while at a young age to figure out, ‘Why are they shaking hands? They just fought,’ ” Vitello said.

Kemp was mentioned because of his show-stopping dunks “for people old enough in the room." Uggla, I guess, at least had something to do with baseball. Because he played second base – and for the University of Memphis, too – and Vitello had been asked about his own star Christian Moore.

And the Ventura line? I'm still not sure.

Had something to do with all the teams at the College World Series being good, I think.

Typically, the difference between calling someone “eccentric” or “weird” is a matter of wealth. (And with a nod to sports superagent Jimmy Sexton’s presence at Tennessee’s CWS games thus far, I wouldn’t worry much about Vitello’s bank account moving forward.)

If Vitello’s Tennessee teams hadn’t been very good, he’d come across as a scatterbrained nut.

Since the Vols, though, have become a national baseball power on Vitello’s watch, it’s charming. Endlessly entertaining and informative (sort of). For those in our 40s, Vitello brings that I-also-grew-up-playing-Nintendo-in-the-1980s kind of vibe, and his popularity with Tennessee fans is unlike anything on Rocky Top since Bruce Pearl.

Vitello has more than a cult following, and it’s apparent at any Vols baseball game, where they’ll chant “Tony” and the number of Vitello jerseys usually exceeds those of any player.

Except for maybe the famed “Mike Honcho,” which started as an off-the-cuff Vitello reference for Jordan Beck during a Vanderbilt series back in 2022. Vitello didn't just make that name up. It was an alias from the movie "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby." (Just go watch it. Not going to spell out the reference here. But it was very funny.)

The Honcho line, at the time, was brilliant. It took the attention off the scrutiny and kerfuffle surrounding his player’s missing bat sticker and caused chuckles about the whole thing. Vitello knew how and when to do that.

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He, too, seemed to understand when his team needed him to be a lightning rod after the NCAA super regional win over Evansville. He ranted all over the place for nearly seven minutes, and like most of the time with Vitello, there was valuable insight. You just had to really think about what he’s saying to filter and decode it in the context of a team that's closing in on a national championship. The Vols (57-12) are one win away from advancing to the best-of-three championship series and can do it with a win Wednesday.

“When you get here,” Vitello said of Omaha, “it’s chaos.”

Keep up if you can.

Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @Gentry_Estes.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello press conferences are wild rides