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Since the advent of the transfer portal and the rise of name, image and likeness (NIL), there have been countless debates about how to create and adjust a system to establish guardrails when necessary.
As the college sports landscape has adapted to NIL, the gap between college programs with deep-pocketed boosters and alumni and smaller schools with fewer financial resources has continued to widen. Although he potentially enjoyed these perceived advantages during his tenure as head coach at Tennessee, Tony Vitello called out NIL’s shortcomings.
“It’s a disaster,” Vitello told Taylor Lewan and Will Compton during a recent episode of the “Bussin’ With The Boys” podcast.
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Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello during the first game of the NCAA Fayetteville Super Regional baseball tournament between Tennessee and Arkansas held at Baum-Walker Stadium on Saturday, June 7, 2025. (Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
Vitello coached the Volunteers to the program’s first national championship in 2024. Despite his lack of coaching experience at the MLB level, Vitello was named manager of the San Francisco Giants last month.
As he reflected on his successful tenure at Tennessee, Vitello shared some of his grievances regarding the current NIL system.
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“It’s a disaster,” Vitello told Taylor Lewan and Will Compton. “We all have thoughts that you dream a little bigger. I kind of have this fantasy or this weird vision of, okay, can college and MLB merge a little bit and help each other out? I definitely shouldn’t be the boss of either one. But I can connect the right people and get this thing to where it’s a little smoother. But the only part that MLB can’t affect is where the NCAA sports are in general.”
Tennessee Volunteers head coach Tony Vitello warms up his players before the first game of the series against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Baum-Walker Stadium at George Cole Field on May 16, 2025 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. (Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
Vitello concluded that NIL contributed to what he remembers as a chaotic environment.
“It’s just a mess. … It’s like you’re driving in the fog and you can’t really see but about 100 or 200 feet in front of you. You understand what’s real, what you can do, what you can’t do. I’m sure someone will say I did something wrong or I didn’t do that. But overall it’s very frustrating not knowing the rules of the game.”
Tony Vitello (23) of the San Francisco Giants gives an interview before his introductory press conference as the new manager of the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on October 30, 2025 in San Francisco, California. (Andy Kuno/San Francisco Giants/Getty Images)
While examining the disparity between college baseball programs, Tony Vitello also suggested that the NIL era is counterproductive to the desire to have schools compete on a level playing field.
“That’s the whole point of athletics or competition: Let’s find out who can do it better. But when you really don’t know what the rules of the game are or they’re so lopsided in favor of Tennessee versus Middle Tennessee State, it’s a little difficult to have that competition head-to-head.”
Vitello replaces Bob Melvin, who was relieved of his duties after two seasons with the Giants. San Francisco has not qualified for the MLB playoffs since 2021.
