The San Francisco Giants hired former Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello as their new manager.
Vitello is the first sitting college baseball coach with no professional experience to be hired to manage an MLB team.
Giants’ president of baseball operations Buster Posey chose Vitello for his culture-building and leadership skills.
The Giants are betting that Vitello’s success in rebuilding Tennessee’s program will translate to the major leagues.

SAN FRANCISCO − Buster Posey’s big move started with small moments.

An amateur scout praising Tony Vitello and the Tennessee baseball program. Chatter in the San Francisco Giants’ draft room about the talent stockpile in Knoxville. A chance encounter in a side stairwell at Denver’s Coors Field in September.

Those little benchmarks were enough for the Giants’ president of baseball operations to text Vitello asking to set up a visit in the earliest days of his hunt for a new manager. 

“I kind of said, ‘Oh hell here we go, this could be something,’ ” Vitello said on Thursday, Oct. 30.

That is precisely what Posey is betting on.

Giants take a chance, move past normal with new manager

Posey slipped a cream Giants jersey over Vitello’s shoulders at Oracle Park, the pair as linked as the intertwined S and F on the black hat Vitello donned at the cost of his hair. Posey is the first man to choose a sitting college baseball coach with zero professional experience to lead an MLB franchise. Vitello is the coach who proved himself worthy of the opportunity.

“It goes back to Buster being pretty fearless and someone who is willing to take chances,” Giants general manager Zack Minasian said. 

It’s a chance, but only inasmuch as Posey is hiring Vitello to fit into the traditional box that an MLB manager has long been held by. Nothing about Vitello suggests he is content to hand in a lineup card, make a handful of pitching decisions per game and maintain order. He’s more likely to dive into McCovey Cove than be contained by conventional expectations. 

The normal is not why the Giants chose him. 

They’re banking on him being successful as an MLB manager for the attributes that led him to rebuild a decrepit Tennessee program into a powerhouse and national champion. He’s a culture-builder, a leader, a teacher, a vision-holder, a fiery competitor and — perhaps most importantly — a winner who thrives at creating trust-centered relationships.

Those traits put him on the MLB radar two years ago when a team explored hiring him, which is when Vitello embraced the dream of leading a pro franchise. It was different this time.

Vitello was firmly on the Giants’ list at the start of their search to replace Bob Melvin, who was fired on Sept. 29 after going 161-163 in two seasons. His name kept standing out. 

“As we started to go through it, I felt like we kept coming back to, ‘This one would be really interesting’ and it just got even more and more interesting as we continued to speak,” Minasian said. 

Posey was affirmed at every turn in his pursuit of Vitello. 

Giants see the right traits in Vitello

The former Vols coach was annoyingly hard to get in touch with because he was working so hard at Tennessee. He made enough phone calls to get glimpses of Vitello. He had Vitello call former Giants managers Dusty Baker and Bruce Bochy — the latter of whom won a World Series title with the Giants. Both were impressed. 

Posey sees Vitello as someone who can change a clubhouse in time. There’s hope his dedication to teaching the game will infiltrate the organization. 

‘When you start lining them up, there are some (traits) that draw strong comparisons to people who have been really successful in the role right out here,” said Minasian as he pointed to the dugout. 

Vitello answered a long list of expected questions in his introduction, ranging from how he will handle the length of an MLB season compared to a college season to how MLB players will respond to a feather-ruffling college coach who hasn’t paid the typical dues to earn such a role.

He’s not worried about whether he fits into the picture of an MLB manager. He does wonder how it will feel. He did so at the two World Series games he attended since accepting the job.

He’ll find out soon enough.

“We are in this together, whether you like me or not,” Vitello said.

Vitello was speaking to fans when he said that. He might as well have turned to his right and uttered it to Posey, who didn’t go into a search looking to make history. He did it anyway — and if Vitello succeeds, the Giants might have blown up the MLB manager role as it has been for decades with Buster’s big move.

Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on X @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.

This story has been updated to reflect Bruce Bochy and not Dusty Baker won a World Series with the Giants.

As boxer Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis prepares for his exhibition fight against Jake Paul Nov. 14 in Miami, he faces accusations of attacking a woman in a strip club this week, according to a civil lawsuit.

The woman filed a civil lawsuit against Davis in Miami-Dade County on Thursday, Oct. 30, accusing the boxer of battery, aggravated battery, false imprisonment, kidnapping, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The woman said the attack took place Monday, Oct. 27 at Tootsie’s Cabaret, a strip club in Miami Gardens where she is a VIP cocktail waitress, according to the complaint filed with the 11th Judicial Circuit Court in Miami-Dade County. According to the complaint, Davis choked, grabbed, pulled, pushed and hit her in the back of the head.

The incident began at approximately 4:15 a.m., when Davis located the woman inside Tootsie’s in an upstairs VIP lounge, where Davis forcibly grabbed and dragged her through a stairway, through the kitchen, and through the back entrance all the way into the parking garage, according to the complaint. At that point, according to the complaint, Davis continuously grabbed, choked, pushed, pulled, and struck her in the back of the head, leaving her terrified and alone and embarrassed for her co-workers and employer, according to the complaint.

The woman and Davis met in 2022 and had been intimately involved for five months before she said she was attacked in the club, according to the complaint.

During those five months, Davis physically assaulted and choked her four times before the latest incident and on two occasions threatened in writing to kill her, according to the complaint.

Calvin Ford, Davis’ trainer, on Thursday evening told USA TODAY Sports he had learned of the lawsuit about 10 minutes earlier. He called the lawsuit ‘nonsense” and said they were ‘trying to see where it’s coming from.”

Of Davis, Ford said, ‘He’s doing great. Everything’s good. That’s why we’re trying to find out what’s going on.”

Davis has a home in Southwest Ranches, Florida, where he has been training for his upcoming fight.

As noted in the woman’s lawsuit, Davis has been arrested multiple times for allegations of violence committed against women.

On July 11, Davis was arrested on a battery charge after an incident involving a woman who is the mother of his two children. But the charges were dropped when the woman and another witness refused to cooperate, according to the State Attorney’s office in Miami.

The woman who filed the lawsuit Oct. 30 is represented by attorneys Richard C. Wolfe and Jeff Chukwuma.

Has the tush been pushed too far?

The controversial play mastered and made famous by the Philadelphia Eagles continues to come under attack from all sides. Now they might’ve lost one of their own in the heated debate.

Jason Kelce spoke with USA TODAY Sports and noted that plenty of people are upset with the ‘tush push,’ while also giving a reason for its potential ban.

‘If they can’t officiate it properly, that would certainly be a reason to ban it,’ Kelce told USA TODAY Sports. ‘That’s the reality of it.’

While he didn’t specifically say what the league’s ruling should be on the play, Kelce did express concern about whether a ban fixes anything.

‘Does removing the push affect the issues that people are having officiating it?’ Kelce questioned. ‘I don’t know that removes … everybody has an issue with the false starts.

‘The offensive line is still gonna operate the same way whether it’s tush push or a quarterback sneak,’ Kelce added. ‘The play in the Giants game – they ruled the forward progress stopped. I think it was a bad call. Like it looks like a fumble to me, probably should’ve been a fumble.’

Kelce pointed out that he isn’t certain the play would’ve been called differently if it was a traditional quarterback sneak.

‘Now if people just want to punish the Eagles because they’re getting away with a lot of bad calls, I certainly understand that,’ Kelce said. ‘But I also haven’t seen the struggling to officiate it with other teams running it. The Eagles aren’t the only team that run it, but very coincidentally I often see only the Eagles being brought up online. I think that probably has more to do with the Eagles being better at it than anyone else.’

The former Eagles center also reiterated the reasons for his visit to the league meetings in May, saying he just wanted to dispel rumors around player safety and the idea that he retired due to the play. It’s unclear what impact Kelce might’ve had on the final vote, but the ban was two teams short of being passed.

Unsurprisingly, the discussion has only intensified during the season. The league acknowledged that it is difficult to officiate the play, but there has been an emphasis on trying to spot false starts and more.

As for the fate of the play, Kelce didn’t take a side, but did provide an off-ramp for those who want to pass a ban.

‘If the NFL thinks it’s unfair or they can’t officiate it, those would obviously be good reasons to ban the play,’ Kelce said. ‘I don’t think banning it because it’s ugly is a good reason – that seems pretty subjective.’

Any vote involving the ‘tush push’ will have to wait until the offseason. Whether a ban is passed or not, it appears this issue isn’t going away anytime soon.

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Colorado coach Deion Sanders questioned the honesty of Big 12 pregame injury reporting.
The Big 12 implemented injury reports this season to increase transparency and deter insider gambling.
Sanders stated he provides a full, truthful injury list to avoid having his name slandered for lying.

Colorado football coach Deion Sanders questioned whether other Big 12 Conference teams are accurately reporting pregame injuries after a new injury report this week showed Colorado with 20 players on the list compared to only one for Arizona.

Colorado hosts Arizona in a homecoming game Saturday at Folsom Field. Big 12 teams are required by the league to report “any uncertainties” regarding a player’s participation in a coming game.

“Let’s tell the truth, and we do,” Sanders said on the Colorado Football Coaches Show Thursday, Oct. 30. “I guess everybody else is lying because there’s no way nobody’s that healthy.”

The Big 12 discloses injury reports before each game this season in the interest of transparency, hoping it prevents injury information from being traded in the shadows with gamblers. In Colorado’s case, Sanders’ pregame injury list sometimes has been quite long compared to opponents. It includes backup players or players who haven’t played much this season, if at all.

Deion Sanders notes the disparity in Big 12 injury reports

Last week, before the Buffaloes suffered a 53-7 loss at Utah, Colorado listed more than 25 players on its initial injury report compared to only three for Utah.  One of those Utah players was starting quarterback Devon Dampier, who was initially listed as questionable to play against Colorado. Dampier then was upgraded to “probable” to play in a subsequent injury report before the game. On game day, he wasn’t listed on the injury report at all, meaning he apparently was available to play against Colorado. But he didn’t play against Colorado, raising questions about transparency and gamesmanship with the injury report.

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham later said Dampier “wasn’t feeling it” before the game and was available as an emergency backup.

Sanders didn’t accuse any coach in particular of being dishonest.

“Why do we always like, we always have 100 guys (on the injury report) and the other team, I look over and they have two guys?” Sanders asked. “Are we the only ones being honest?”

Sanders said he promotes publishing a full injury report because “the last thing I want is my name slandered for lying,’

“I don’t lie,” Sanders told the show’s host, Mark Johnson. “I don’t. I’m not gonna placate nothing. Let’s tell the truth. And we do.”

Sanders said that “we’re tripling our opponents” in number of injured players reported before games. That is not always the case. The initial injury report for the week before Colorado beat Iowa State on Oct. 11 showed 21 players on the list for Colorado and 17 for Iowa State. Sanders said his team goes over the list every day with his training staff to issue a comprehensive report.

Deion Sanders said he finally went home this week

On Tuesday, Sanders said he hadn’t returned to his home in Colorado after suffering the worst loss of his college coaching career at Utah on Saturday. He stayed at the Colorado team facilities instead hoping to get his team back on track. He said Thursday he finally went home Wednesday.

“I’m a perfectionist,” he said. “I want to win. And then, if you don’t, I want to figure out why.”

World Series could affect Colorado’s television channel

Colorado’s game against Arizona on Saturday is set for 7 p.m. ET on FS1. But if the Toronto Blue Jays win the World Series Friday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Arizona-Colorado game will be moved to Fox, the network confirmed to USA TODAY Sports. If the Dodgers force a Game 7, that decisive game will be on Fox and Colorado will play Arizona on FS1.

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com

The Tennessee women’s basketball team is days away from tipping off its highly-anticipated 2025-26 season, but senior guard Ruby Whitehorn has found herself in some more legal trouble.

Whitehorn was arrested and charged with simple possession at 4:31 a.m. Thursday morning, according to the University of Tennessee Police Department’s online crime logs. The arrest happened hours after Whitehorn scored 18 points in the Lady Volunteers’ 148-48 exhibition win over Columbus State at Food City Center on Wednesday.

Whitehorn transferred to Tennessee last season after spending the first two years of her collegiate career at Clemson. Whitehorn averaged 11.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 34 games (28 starts) for Tennessee in the 2024-25, shooting 46.3% from the field and a career-high 29.8% from the 3-point line.

It was Whitehorn’s second issue with law the offseason. Whitehorn was suspended in August after facing felony charges of domestic assault and aggravated burglary. Whitehorn pled guilty to two lesser charges of aggravated trespassing and vandalism and was sentenced to probation and anger management classes, WVLT reported. 

Whitehorn, 21, is a little less than two months removed from the suspension following the arrest on Aug. 8. She was reinstated the week of Sept. 8. It’s not clear if Whitehorn will face further discipline from the program following her latest arrest.

‘We are aware of the situation and awaiting additional information,’ Tennessee associate director of strategic communications Eric Trainer said.

Tennessee tips off their season on Tuesday against NC State. The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

Ruhle’s new deal, which will run through the 2032 season, does not add to his base pay but will add salary escalators for College Football Playoff appearances.

The extension comes on the heels of Rhule being connected to the Penn State opening following the school’s firing of James Franklin. Rhule graduated from Penn State and is close friends with athletic director Pat Kraft, whom he worked with at Temple.

The new agreement raises his buyout to $15 million from $5 million, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

‘We love it here,’ Rhule said on the ‘Pat McAfee Show’ shortly after the extension was announced. ‘There’s lots of great jobs, but very rarely in this business you find a home. And we felt like Nebraska’s our home, this program’s our home.’

“Coach Rhule has shown he is the right leader at the right time for Nebraska Football,’ Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen said a statement announcing the hire. ‘We look forward to him and his family being in Lincoln for a long time. Our program has seen significant progress under Matt’s leadership, and at this stage in the evolution of the program continuity and stability are critical.’

Rhule has led Nebraska to a 6-2 record in his third season with the program. The Cornhuskers went to their first bowl game since 2016 last season and won their first postseason game since 2015.

Rhule has a track record of program building. He went 2-10 in his first season at Temple in 2013 before leading the Owls to back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2015 and 2016. He then went 1-11 in his first season at Baylor in 2017, before going 11-3 in 2019.

He coached the NFL’s Carolina Panthers for three seasons, and took the Nebraska job after being fired in 2022.

Matt Rhule contract

The annual salary makes him the 15th highest-paid coach in college football this season. His new contract now extends through the 2032 season but doesn’t include a salary increase, as his average annual salary is already set to increase in future seasons.

The new contract also increases escalators for College Football Playoff appearances, although the exact bonus details aren’t included.

Luka Dončić has been upgraded to questionable for the Los Angeles Lakers’ road game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Oct. 31.

Dončić missed the Lakers’ last three games due to a pair of injuries he suffered in the team’s 128-110 rout of the Minnesota Timberwolves on Oct. 24.

The point guard suffered a left finger sprain and a lower left leg contusion. He was seen with an athletic trainer looking at his left hand at the end of the first quarter in that game. Dončić did finish out the game.

Dončić averaged 46 points, 11.5 rebounds and 8.5 assists in the first two games of the season.

When do the Lakers play next?

The Lakers will travel to play the Grizzlies in an NBA Group Stage game on Friday, Oct. 31 at 9:30 p.m. ET (6:30 p.m. PT).

Carson Wentz made it clear he was on board with the Minnesota Vikings’ decision to leave him in the team’s ‘Thursday Night Football’ game against the Los Angeles Chargers despite dealing with a significant left shoulder injury.

Wentz, who will have season-ending surgery to repair a dislocated left shoulder that included a torn labrum and fractured socket, spoke to reporters on Oct. 29, telling them he ‘never once felt unsafe’ while struggling through the injury during a 37-10 Vikings loss.

‘This isn’t my first rodeo,’ Wentz said. ‘I’m not an idiot. I know what I was signing up for going out there. Nobody was forcing me, pressuring me, any of those things.’

‘Everybody’s handled this tremendously,’ Wentz added. ‘Communication’s been phenomenal from coaches, trainers, all the things. We knew what we were doing all along.’

The Vikings’ decision to leave Wentz in the game had fallen under scrutiny as the 32-year-old quarterback appeared to be in pain throughout the contest. On several occasions, he grimaced while holding his left arm, which was in a stabilizing brace meant to better protect his injured shoulder.

Despite this, Wentz remained in the game until Minnesota’s final offensive drive. The veteran quarterback explained that was his decision, and one he didn’t make lightly.

‘As a competitor, you never want to take yourself out,’ Wentz said. ‘No matter what you’re going through, it’s hard to remove yourself from the game.’

Wentz felt that was especially true considering he had served in a backup role over the previous two seasons, starting just two combined games from 2023-24 before signing with the Vikings.

‘I was a backup the last couple of years, so just being back in the role of starting meaningful football games – it’s fun. I’m not going to lie,’ Wentz explained. ‘It’s fun. It’s what I grew up dreaming of doing. And when you lose it for a little bit, it’s hard to want to give it up. So even with pain, and all the things that I knew were going to come with it was – I want to play. I want to be out there, and I want to be helping this team however I can.’

Still, Wentz knew his days as a starter were numbered. Not just by the imminent return of second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy, but also because the 32-year-old and the Vikings knew he eventually would need season-ending surgery to repair his injured left shoulder.

That was one of the reasons Wentz got emotional and slammed his helmet down after a turnover on downs late in the fourth quarter.

‘I think the frustration that you might have saw on the sideline was me knowing I’m probably not playing again this year,’ Wentz said. ‘So, there was a lot of emotions there mixed with the pain and all the things.’

In the end, Wentz acknowledged his pending season-ending surgery was the right decision for himself and the team.

‘I’m feeling good with the ultimate decision we made collectively,’ Wentz said. ‘It’s weird being done this early in the season. I’ve been on IR a couple of different times, but never this early.’

Now, Wentz will focus on welcoming the imminent arrival of his fourth daughter and getting healthy for the start of the 2026 NFL season.

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