A Detroit native,[1] Vitale was born in 1965 and attended De La Salle Collegiate High School in Warren, Michigan.
[2] After redshirting in 1984, Vitale started nine games at left offensive guard for the 1985 Michigan Wolverines football team that compiled a 10-1-1 record, defeated Nebraska in the 1986 Fiesta Bowl, and finished the season ranked #2 in the AP Poll.
[4] As a junior, he again started every game at center for the 1987 Michigan team and was selected as a first-team All-Big Ten Conference player.
He also served as a co-captain of the 1988 Michigan team that compiled a 9-2-1 record, defeated USC 22-14 in the 1989 Rose Bowl, and was ranked #4 in the final AP Poll.
[6] At the end of the 1988 season, Vitale was selected as the consensus first-team center on the 1988 College Football All-America Team.
[7] Vitale was also known as a team leader who once showed up with a U-M winged football helmet design shaved into the side of his head.