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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 with the necessary guardrails. As the college sports landscape has adapted to NIL, the gap between programs backed by deep-pocketed boosters and alumni, and smaller schools with fewer financial resources, has continued to widen.
Although Tony Vitello was in a position to potentially benefit from these advantages during his time as head coach at Tennessee, he has been vocal about 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.
Vitello led the Tennessee Volunteers to the program’s first national championship in 2024. Despite lacking coaching experience at the Major League Baseball (MLB) level, he was named manager of the San Francisco Giants last month.
Reflecting on his successful tenure at Tennessee, Vitello shared some of his frustrations with the current NIL system.
“I kind of have this weird fantasy or vision of, okay, can college and MLB merge together a little bit and help each other? I certainly shouldn’t be the patron of either. But I can connect the right people and get this thing where it’s a little more fluid,” he explained. “But the one part MLB can’t affect is where NCAA sports are in general.”
Vitello concluded that NIL has 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’re grasping for what’s real, what you can do, what you can’t do. I’m sure someone will throw out that I did something wrong or I didn’t do this. But overall, it’s very frustrating when you don’t know the rules to the game,” he said.
While discussing the disparity between college baseball programs, Vitello also suggested that the NIL era is counterproductive to the push for schools to compete on a more even playing field.
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