Fresh off of leading Tennessee to its first ever baseball national championship, Tony Vitello was rewarded with a new contract on Friday.

The new agreement for $3 million annually on five-year deal, runs through June 30, 2029 and makes Vitello the highest paid coach in college baseball.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

"Tony and his staff have developed the country's top baseball program, and we are excited to announce this long-term extension to keep Tony on Rocky Top," Tennessee athletics director Danny White said in a press release. "As an athletics department, we aim to lead the way in college sports, and Tony has created a baseball program that sets the standard across the entire sport.

"The on-field results in the nation's best conference are unmatched, and the enthusiasm he has brought to Vol Nation has been incredible to witness."

Vitello, who is 295-112 since taking over at Tennessee in 2018, was named the National Coach of the Year by multiple outlets after guiding the Vols to the College World Series for the third time in four years and paying off the trip with a 6-5 win over Texas A&M in game 3 of the finals.

Tennessee set an SEC single-season record with 60 wins last season and claimed both the league regular season and tournament titles.

"With the new hires we made this summer, we wanted to take care in solidifying what we knew was inevitable, that being our athletic department and coaching staff wanting to be teammates for a long time," Vitello said in a statement. "Our staff and our program take confidence in the fact that our administration is more invested in our sport than anywhere else in the country when you consider resources, their commitment to our staff and the stadium project.

"At the end of the day, we know our great Vol fans are the origin of these resources and we look forward to continually working hard to make them proud to be a part of Vol Nation."

–––––

– TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM.

– ENJOY VOLREPORT WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION.

– SUBSCRIBE TO THE VOLREPORT YOUTUBE CHANNEL.

– FOLLOW VOLREPORT ON TWITTER: @TennesseeRivals, @ByNoahTaylor, @RyanTSylvia, @Dale_Dowden, @ShayneP_Media.

–––––