SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tony Vitello's ascension from college coach to manager in the pros is a journey that is unprecedented in the modern majors.
After leading Tennessee to its first College World Series title in 2024, Vitello will try to have similar success in the majors after being hired by Buster Posey to take over the San Francisco Giants.
While several managers in the majors previously served as college coaches, including seven-time World Series
champion Casey Stengel and current Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy, none made the jump directly in the modern history of baseball without any experience playing or coaching in the pros.
The college to professional path has been taken several times in other major sports leagues, with various levels of success and failures in the NFL, NBA and NHL over the years.
Here's a look at some of the noteworthy coaches who did it:
Holtz had a four-year run as head coach at N.C. State when the New York Jets tapped him to take over a three-win team in 1976. The move proved to be short-lived; Holtz didn't even make it through one full season. He resigned with a 3-10 record and one game remaining in the season, saying, “God did not put Lou Holtz on this earth to coach in the pros.”
Holtz spent nearly four decades back in college starting at Arkansas in 1977 and winning a national championship with Notre Dame in 1988.
Perhaps the most successful college-to-pro coach in any sport, Johnson was the controversial choice to take over for Tom Landry after Jerry Jones bought the Dallas Cowboys in 1989. Johnson had won a national title at Miami in 1987, but many were skeptical about how he would fare in the pros.
He started off poorly with a 1-15 record in 1989, but Johnson proved to be extremely adept at roster management and quickly built a dynasty in Dallas thanks in part to his decision to trade Herschel Walker to Minnesota for a slew of draft picks and his reliance on smaller, faster defensive players. The strategy worked for him at the collegiate level.
Johnson and the Cowboys won back-to-back Super Bowl titles in the 1992 and '93 seasons and he became a Pro Football Hall of Famer in 2020.
Kelly was viewed as one of the most innovative coaches in college while at Oregon, with a fast-paced offense and focus on off-field aspects like nutrition to turn the Ducks into a perennial contender.
He had some early success when he was hired by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2013, building a top-five offense and leading the team to the playoffs in his first season. The Eagles won 10 games again in 2014 but missed the playoffs as opponents caught up to Kelly's schemes.
He was fired the next season with a 6-9 record before going to San Francisco in 2016, where he went 2-14 and was fired after one season.
Tark the Shark was one of the most successful college coaches, winning more than 83% of his games and earning a national championship at UNLV before he finally made the jump to the NBA.
Tarkanian had turned down a chance to coach the Los Angeles Lakers in 1979 but left in 1992 to take over the San Antonio Spurs after growing tired of repeated run-ins with the NCAA.
The move didn't last long. Tarkanian was fired after only 20 games before returning to college, where he finished his career at Fresno State.
Carlesimo had elevated Seton Hall from the bottom of the Big East Conference to a contender that reached the national title game in 1989 before jumping to the pros in 1994.
Carlesimo was hired by Portland and led the Trail Blazers to three straight appearances in the playoffs, where they made three first-round exits, before getting fired. He was immediately hired by Golden State in 1997 and things got much worse.
The hard-driving style that was successful in college didn't work in the pros. Carlesimo's tenure with the Warriors was best remembered for Latrell Sprewell choking him at a practice in 1997. That led to Sprewell's suspension and later trade, but Carlesimo never had success with the Warriors and was fired in 1999.
After winning three titles as an assistant in San Antonio, Carlesimo had short but unsuccessful runs as coach in Seattle, Oklahoma City and Brooklyn.
Stevens had led Butler to five NCAA Tournament bids and two improbable trips to the title game when he made the jump to the NBA to take over the Boston Celtics.
The Celtics moved on from stalwarts Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce and the young Stevens helped rebuild the team behind Jalen Brown and Jayson Tatum.
Stevens guided Boston to three trips to the conference final in four years before moving to the front office, where he helped build the roster that won the title in 2024.
Brooks was the longtime college coach at Minnesota before he became a star by coaching the underdog U.S. to the 1980 Olympic hockey gold medal in the “Miracle on Ice.”
Brooks didn't make the direct jump from an amateur coach to the pros. He had a brief stint as a coach in Switzerland before being hired by the New York Rangers in 1981.
Brooks had the task of pulling off another miracle and leading that team to its first championship since 1940. He led New York to three straight playoff berths but couldn't get past the second round of the playoffs before getting fired midway through his fourth season. He later had stints as head coach for the Minnesota North Stars, New Jersey and Pittsburgh but could never duplicate his amateur success.
Brooks' predecessor as U.S. Olympic coach had more success in the NHL. Johnson coached the Americans in the 1976 Olympics before returning to college at Wisconsin, where he won three national championships.
Johnson was hired by the Calgary Flames in 1982 and led the team to its first Stanley Cup Final appearance in 1986 before losing to Montreal in five games.
Johnson was then hired by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1990 and led the team to the championship his first season — just a few months before he died of brain cancer.
Hakstol had led North Dakota to seven Frozen Four appearances when he was hired in 2015 to take over the Philadelphia Flyers.
Hakstol led Philadelphia to two playoff appearances, never making it past the first round, before being fired midway through his fourth season.
Hakstol was then hired as the first head coach for the expansion Seattle Kraken and led the team to one playoff appearance in three seasons.
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