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Tony Vitello offers up advice to Tennessee football fans following Nico Iamaleava saga
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Tony Vitello guided Tennessee to a key weekend series win over Ole Miss on Sunday, getting a clutch 9th-inning home run to outlast the Rebels in a 10-8 rubber match. That victory gave the Vols 2 out of 3 games in Oxford, and the topic of the transfer portal came up afterwards.
In fact, a pair of former Ole Miss stars were key for Tennessee. Staff ace, southpaw Liam Doyle, pitched for Ole Miss last season, and first baseman Andrew Fischer, who had 4 hits, 4 runs scored and a home run in the series, was on Ole Miss’s roster a season ago.
Asked about Fischer and some drama in his return to Oxford, Vitello admitted the infielder is “really comfortable in his own skin,” and that is something that can rub people the wrong way when he’s not on your side:
“Now he’s on the other side, I’d be like them too. I didn’t like him last year, matter of fact,” said Fischer about the reception at Ole Miss. “Maybe somebody popped off — sometimes you like to say stuff in the dugout and hope it doesn’t get out there, but he is so comfortable in his own skin, it’s aggravating if he’s not on your side…”
As for the yelling that occurred, Vitello admitted he gets it for former players returning to their old schools but also described it as “the world we live in” these days, pointing to transfers also playing a role for Ole Miss this season. That’s when Vitello dropped his brief take on the Nico Iamaleava saga with a quick word of advice for Vol football fans.
“I get the yelling. You can tell people really like Liam, they really liked watching him compete. Their most dangerous guy all weekend was at Kentucky last year. We could go on with our history, too. I don’t like it, it’s part of the deal, and all I want every year when we come to work is a bunch of guys who want to be at our place,” described Vitello. “And if they don’t, that’s fine. That’s just the world we live in, and if you’re a Vol football fan, watch the movie ‘Friday’.”
While Vitello did not elaborate, “Friday” is notably quoted often for its “Bye Felicia” moment. Clearly, there’s no love lost between Vitello and Iamaleava, and for good reason after the way things played out for Josh Heupel and the football program.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
