Seven years ago, Tony Vitello put pen to paper and signed on to become the 25th head coach for a Tennessee baseball program that dates back to 1897.

This came after a turbulent 21st century. Since a 2005 season that featured a second place finish in the SEC East Division, the Vols had not finished above fourth before Vitello got to town.

In the blink of an eye, things have turned around as the Vols now are a weekend series win away from earning a spot in the College World Series for the third time in four years.

Here's a recap of the seven years that have passed since Vitello signed.

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The rebuilding period lasted just one season. Vitello went 29-27 (12-18 SEC) and finished in a tie for sixth in the east division. Tennessee missed the NCAA Tournament but there was already signs of improvement.

The 12-win mark in conference play was the most for the program since 2014. The school hadn't gone over 12 wins since 2007, either. With the groundwork laid, it was all uphill from here.

In Vitello's second year, he got the program back to its first NCAA Tournament since the 2005 College World Series run. The Vols would ultimately fall in the Chapel Hill Regional but did earn a spot in the finals.

The 14 wins in conference play were the most since 2005, as well. It was good for third place in the SEC East.

After earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament, the expectation was to take a jump in 2020. However, before conference play even began, the season was cut short due to Covid.

The Vols had jumped out to a 15-2 start before the season ended and quickly jumped on everyone's radar as a possible contender on the national scene. While the season ultimately goes down as a what if, it set up a historic 2021.

In 2021, Tennessee put the country on notice as one of the best rising programs in the country. The Vols not only strung together an SEC slate that had them finish first in the SEC East, but parlayed it into a College World Series run.

With the help of a Drew Gilbert walk-off grand slam and sweep of LSU in the super regional, Tennessee was back in Omaha for the first time since 2005. The Vols' run was cut at just two games, but earning the No. 3 national seed and putting together a successful postseason was monumental.

A year removed from the college world series run, Vitello put together one of the best teams in college baseball history. The Vols lost single digit games while claiming both the regular season and tournament SEC titles. This was the first conference championship of both kinds since 1995.

While Tennessee looked untouchable for the entirety of the regular season and conference tournament, things came to an abrupt hault in the Knoxville Super Regional. As the unquestioned No. 1 national seed, the Vols fell to Notre Dame to fall a match short of the College World Series.

It didn't take long for the Vols to get back to Omaha. Just the next season, Vitello and crew made their way to the College World Series while playing the entire postseason away from Knoxville. This was due to an up-and-down regular season that saw a finish just over .500 in SEC play.

Zane Denton left the regular season in the past with a clutch three-run home run in the ninth inning against Clemson in the regionals, though. This helped the Vols survive on the road and earn a trip to the supers. Against Southern Miss in Hattiesburg, Tennessee won the best two-out-of-three to advance again. In Omaha, the Vols won their first College World Series game under Vitello but were eliminated by eventual national champion LSU.

Now, in year seven, Vitello's group has the chance to make further history. The group is the No. 1 national seed in the NCAA Tournament for the second time under Vitello's watch and has already advancing to the super regionals. Standing in the way of another College World Series is Evansville who was a 4-seed in its regional before pulling off the upset.

In the regular season, the Vols once again rose to No. 1 in all the major polls before claiming a share of the SEC regular season title and going all the way in Hoover for a tournament championship.

The obvious next step for Vitello is a national title. This team has all the tools to be the one to get him over the hump after just seven years of being a head coach.

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