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Say this for Buster Posey. He’s not fearful of making gutsy moves. The Willy Adames signing? The shortstop was signed to the biggest contract in franchise history, surpassing Posey’s own record deal. The Rafael Devers trade? It happened six weeks before the deadline and stood up as one of the most shocking transactions of the year. The Bob Melvin firing? It had a surprise element largely because it came three months after Posey exercised the manager’s 2026 option.

Knowing Posey’s track record as the Giants’ president of baseball operations, albeit one that’s only 12 months long, we shouldn’t be surprised with whomever he picks as the next manager. Because we’ve already learned to expect the unexpected.

One name that would fit Posey’s out-of-the-box way of building a team is Tony Vitello, the head coach at the University of Tennessee. He has never managed in pro ball, but the fact he’d be an unconventional hire would fit into Posey’s wheelhouse as a bold choice and also someone who’d grow into the role alongside Posey and general manager Zack Minasian.

Plenty of Giants officials, starting in the scouting department, are all too familiar with how Vitello operates. Under Posey’s direction, the Giants drafted Volunteers infielder Gavin Kilen with their first pick in this year’s amateur draft and traded for outfielder Drew Gilbert and pitcher Blade Tidwell from the Mets’ organization at the deadline. All played at Tennessee under Vitello.

Vitello, 47, was hired by Tennessee in 2018 and turned the Volunteers into a perennial college baseball powerhouse. They won three super regionals in the last five seasons and the 2024 College World Series.

In the news conference in which Posey put an end to any talk that Bruce Bochy would return as manager, he did not shoot down the possibility of hiring a Division I college coach. No one in the organization has denied that Vitello is an option, and there are people with knowledge of the process who believe Vitello’s candidacy is realistic, even at the top of the list.

“He’s the guy who probably convinced Buster Posey he could beat the Dodgers,” an industry source said. “No doubt in my mind that he walked in and said that. Just give me the horses.”

While another source cautioned that Vitello might be too much of a rah-rah guy which works fine in amateur ball, the industry source noted the Giants have just five players with contracts beyond 2026, fewer than half the Dodgers’ total.

“He knows how to win, and players play for him,” the industry source said.

The Knoxville News Sentinel quoted Vitello Saturday saying “Nothing is done” and that he does not have an offer from the Giants at the moment.

Vitello isn’t the only unconventional candidate whose name has been mentioned during the process. Nick Hundley never managed a day in his life, but he was deemed a favorite early in the process. One of Posey’s great assets is reading a person’s character, demeanor, and body language, and Hundley’s work as Posey’s backup on the 2017 and 2018 Giants apparently went a long way to show that he can manage people and lead a team.

Posey has spoken with several others, too. The Standard reported Oct. 9 that Brandon Hyde was one of them, a Santa Rosa native who grew up a Giants fan and managed the Orioles to 101 wins in 2023 only to get fired in May after Baltimore got off to a slow start.

Vitello, meanwhile, has spent his entire career coaching in the college ranks, starting in 2003 as an assistant at his alma mater, Missouri, before departing for Texas Christian in 2011. Following a three-year stint with the Horned Frogs, Vitello left to work at Arkansas, where he spent four seasons as an assistant before leaving to take the Tennessee job.

The Volunteers have won at least 66% of their games in each of the last five seasons, including in 2025 when Tennessee finished 46-19 but just 16-14 in the SEC.

It’s rare for a college coach to jump directly to MLB, but there’s at least one prominent example of a former college World Series champion who has succeeded in the majors. The Brewers finished with the best regular-season record in the National League under Pat Murphy, the longtime Arizona State head coach (1995-2009) who has managed Milwaukee for the last two seasons.

But Murphy, unlike Vitello, worked his way into the Milwaukee gig by managing in the Padres’ farm system for several years before becoming San Diego’s interim manager in June 2015, replacing Bud Black, who was dismissed. The Brewers hired Murphy as a bench coach in 2016, and he became their manager in 2024.

“You hear it and it’s flattering. Basically, it is a compliment to our support staff and our players. ... That is what I consider it — a compliment,” Vitello told the Knoxville News Sentinel on Oct. 4, responding to the idea that he could be a candidate to jump to an MLB job with the Giants. 

Vitello added, “This job is a grind and our No. 1 focus this time of year is getting our team better and recruiting — and we are on the edge with some pretty impressive recruits.”

Many managerial jobs remain open, and the Commissioner’s Office frowns on teams making announcements during the World Series, so the timing of any announcement has to be worked out with MLB. It’s possible managerial announcements could come once the Mariners-Blue Jays series is complete, in the days before Friday’s Game 1 of the World Series. Otherwise, they’d come immediately after the World Series.

Either way, Posey has plenty of competition to fill his managerial void. Hundley, for instance, could suddenly be a nice fit in San Diego now that Mike Shildt has retired. Hundley lives in the area and played for the Padres much longer than he played for the Giants, from 2008 to 2014.

Whomever Posey chooses will be the Giants’ fourth manager since 2019, following Bruce Bochy, Gabe Kapler and Melvin and be the guy, in Posey’s words, “who’s going to be obsessive about the details, obsessive about work, obsessive about getting the most out of players.”

It would be bold if Posey makes Vitello the Giants’ next manager. Then again, that Posey is even their top baseball executive is an indication of the organization’s boldness and Posey’s own willingness to try different things in a bid to get the Giants over the hump.

He’s essentially the first former MLB superstar to return to his team as an owner and top executive, so we should all realize that whichever path he chooses with his next manager shouldn’t be a surprise.