OMAHA, Neb. — History was made Monday night in Omaha when Tennessee baseball won the College World Series Finals.
Many came out to celebrate the big win, even "The Sheriff" Peyton Manning praised head coach Tony Vitello and discussed how much he enjoys the friendship between them.
As Tennesse continued its victory, a few players were speechless after the championship win.
"I blacked out," Drew Beam said. "I just took off running. We didn't even dog pile, we just all were jumping with joy. I was taken over with joy. It was so, so amazing."
"What did we just do," Christian Moore said. "To say we're winners is crazy."
Even Greg Vitello, Tony's father, was too speechless to say anything to his son.
"I didn't say anything," Greg said. "We both cried. It's been a long, long journey from down here to today. I wouldn't trade it for anything."
Many paid tribute to Tony Vitello after the big win by telling 10News what he means to them.
"He's the man," Beam said. "He's the livelihood, the heart of this team. Every single game, what everyone sees on TV, that's exactly who he is. He's the man that you want to play for."
Tennessee football head coach Josh Heupel and basketball head coach Rick Barnes were in the stands cheering on the Vols. After the big win, Heupel had nothing but praise to give to Vitello and his team.
"I'm so excited for Coach Vitello and their entire team," Heupel said. "How they played this way all year long but to play the way they did during the tournament, resilient, competing together, you can tell how much they care about each other. Tonight was an awesome atmosphere, a lot of fun watching them play."
Of course, the famous head coaches couldn't pass an opportunity to show Vitello some love on the field.
"It was special, I mean you don't get to do this often," Barnes said. "For Tony to be at the top of the mountain right now, for what he's done in his time on Rocky Top, I'm not only excited for him but the university and his players."
When asked when is it football's and basketball's time to shine in the championship light, Heupel said, "Stay tuned in the fall." Barnes also replied, "We want it right now, we're going to try and go after it."
And after a long season, the Vols wanted to thank the fans for continuing to show their love and support, even when it seemed rough at times.
"I want to say thank you to the fans, to everybody that helped us be in this situation, you guys are a huge part and I can't thank you guys enough," Moore said.
It's no secret that the University of Tennessee was the stepping stone to building strong relationships. Moore told us what the school means to him.
"This school has given me everything," Moore said. "It's given me life, it's given me hope, it's given me a home, it's given me friends, it's given me everything."
Catcher Cal Stark also reflected on how strong his relationship is with his team and what it means to him.
"Everything," Stark said. "The relationship I have with the guys on this team, all the coaches here, I would die for those guys, I love those guys to death."
So what does this mean for Tennessee Athletics as a whole? Some see the program continuing on its success.
"We're on the up," Beam said. "I don't know why anybody else would want to play for anyone other than Coach V and the staff... they're father figures to me, you know, coaches, friends, they've been so great to me, this support staff has been amazing and I can only see Tennessee baseball going up from here."
Barnes also commented on how amazing it is that Tennessee Athletics have a great year in sports.
"It's great but some will tell you it starts at the top with Randy Boyd, Donde Plowman and Danny White, what they've done and how they've provided what we needed to compete at the highest level but we all know you can't get it done without the players."
And what does it mean to the players to be called national champions?
"I don't even know what to say, we're national champions and nobody can take that from us," Stark said.