21  Tony Vitello Position: Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator | 2nd Season

Coach Vitello can be reached via email at t.vitello@tcu.edu.

Tony Vitello enters his second season as the recruiting coordinator for the Horned Frogs. He came to TCU after spending the previous eight seasons as the recruiting coordinator at Missouri.

"We searched nationwide for the right fit for our program, and Tony clearly emerged as one of the nation's most aggressive, hard-working and knowledgeable recruiters," said Schlossnagle. "He comes widely recommended and has been a major part of Missouri's outstanding baseball program over the last several years."

"The timing could not be better to join the baseball family at TCU," said Vitello. "The athletic department as a whole is taking off, but the baseball program recently impacted people nationwide with the exposure they earned in Omaha."

Vitello hit the ground running in his first season at TCU, bringing to campus 17 newcomers in the fall of 2011. The class featured four players who turned down professional contracts in favor of coming to school.

While making his mark on the recruiting trail, Vitello also put his stamp on the 2011 squad. Under his guidance, the Frogs hit .306 as a team and averaged 6.7 runs per game. The 141 doubles hit as a team ranked fourth all time. Additionally, five hitters earned all-conference accolades. Four offensive stars were drafted at the end of the season and two others signed free agent contracts.

In his eight seasons at Missouri, the Tigers made the postseason seven times. Vitello was a three-year letterwinner for Missouri from 2000-02 before joining the staff as a volunteer assistant in 2003. He was promoted to a full-time assistant coach in 2004. He has served primarily as the pitching coach, while assisting with the hitters and serving as the first base coach.

"He is an outstanding teacher and coach," remarked Schlossnagle. "The fact that he is a former infielder who has been coaching pitchers at a very high level proved to me that he is a tremendous teacher regardless of the skill or area of the game. I'm excited for our current players to get the opportunity to improve under his watch and be a part of the energy he will bring to our program."

Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball have routinely ranked Vitello's recruiting classes among the top 25 nationally. His 2008 class was ranked No. 11 by Baseball America and three of the last four years, his classes have been ranked in the top 25 by Baseball America.

As the pitching coach at Missouri, Vitello's staff has consistently been one of the top in the Big 12, including a 3.36 ERA that led the Big 12 and ranked 11th nationally in 2006.

During his tenure, Vitello recruited and developed 19 pitchers who were drafted by major league teams, including current major leaguers Max Scherzer and Doug Mathis and recent first-round picks Aaron Crow and Kyle Gibson.

"Living in Fort Worth is going to be tremendous," raved Vitello. "The way the community has fully embraced TCU baseball is only going to add to the program's momentum. I am anxious to learn from two coaches as accomplished as Coach Schlossnagle and Coach Randy Mazey, but above all I am eager to work alongside our players to see what kind of progress we can make from one day to the next."