Vitello’s Tennessee teams played with an edge. While in that role, he has said that “in between the lines there are no rules” and compared his team to UFC fighters. It’s a big, irreverent gesture to the pearl-clutching traditionalists who constantly claim baseball needs to be played according to an unwritten code.

San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh shared why New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart will be "special" before their Week 9 duel.

Christian McCaffrey and the San Francisco 49ers hope to get back on track running the ball against the New York Giants and their 30th-ranked rush defense

That moment was 11 years ago. Posey played six more seasons, retired and became the Giants’ president of baseball operations. Vitello became University of Tennessee’s head coach, turned the Vols into a collegiate powerhouse, and now is making the unprecedented leap from collegiate head coach to major-league manager.

Few would have expected the lowly New York Giants to be a matchup of particular importance for the San Francisco 49ers, but the stakes have heightened entering Sunday, columnist Ann Killion writes.

Even though he's now a Major League Baseball manager, here's betting that Tony Vitello is still going to be a college baseball guy at heart.