Tite

After joining the youth sides of Caxias in 1978, Tite quickly started to feature for the under-20 side, and made his senior debut on 19 September 1979, in a 0–0 home draw against rivals Juventude. He would later establish himself as a regular starter for the side, and was transferred to Esportivo de Bento Gonçalves in 1983. In 1984, Tite agreed to a six-month loan deal with Portuguesa, newly promoted to the Série A. There, he would score on a regular basis, netting six goals in just 22 appearances, but was not bought outright after a change of presidency at the club. After not having his rights purchased by Lusa, Tite would move to Guarani also in 1984, but suffered a serious knee injury in his second match at the club, being sidelined for the remainder of the year. Back to action in 1985, he again suffered another knee injury and only managed to feature regularly in 1986. Marred by injuries and after undergoing seven surgeries, his period at the club ended in 1988, with just 40 matches and one goal. In 1989, Tite returned to Esportivo in an attempt to overcome his injuries. However, he suffered another knee injury at the club, and had another lengthy recovery. After leaving Esportivo, Tite opened a sports shop in Bento Gonçalves, but was invited to play for Guarany de Garibaldi in the 1990 Campeonato Gaúcho Segunda Divisão; knowing his physical limitations, he accepted the offer but also became the club's fitness coach, to help them reduce costs.

Early career

Midway through the 1990 Segundona, Guarany's manager Celso Freitas left the club, and Tite was appointed manager on his place. In 1991, after narrowly missing out promotion with Guarany, he was named in charge of Caxias, but left the club in 1992. Tite joined Veranópolis in 1992, shortly after leaving Caxias, and led the side to a title in the 1993 Campeonato Gaúcho Segunda Divisão. On 3 January 1996, he was presented as manager of Ypiranga de Erechim, but was dismissed on 22 April after eleven matches. Tite was in charge of Juventude for a brief period during the 1997 season, but was sacked during the year's Campeonato Gaúcho and replaced by Gílson Nunes. In 1998, he had short stints at Caxias and Veranópolis, and also worked as a sports commentator in the Rádio Gaúcha.

Early success

Caxias

In 1999, Tite was hired by Caxias, his first club as a professional footballer, leading the team through a surprising campaign in the 2000 Campeonato Gaúcho. Caxias were the champions of the Rio Grande do Sul state tournament, defeating Ronaldinho's Grêmio, winning the first match at the finals by 3–0 and drawing the second one with no goals. Tite's success on the Gauchão drew the attention of the Rio Grande do Sul press, as the Campeonato Gaúcho is rarely claimed by any team other than the "big two", Grêmio and Internacional.

Grêmio

Signed by Grêmio in 2001, Tite led the Porto Alegre squad to another Gauchão title, defeating…

Born in Caxias do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, to Genor and Ivone Bacchi, Adenor was the middle child, having a younger brother named Ademir and an elder sister named Beatriz. He was nicknamed "Ade" by his friends and family during his childhood. His father was also an amateur player and took him to Esporte Clube Juvenil (an amateur side in São Braz, a small community in his hometown), where both would play together in the reserve side. After spending a short period at Juventude's youth sides, Ade left after having to find work. However, when playing for his school Colégio Henrique Emilio Meier in a local tournament, he was spotted by Luiz Felipe Scolari, who took him to the youth categories of Caxias. When presented by Felipão at Caxias, he was mistakenly called "Tite" (the name of another midfielder from the college team), but the nickname later remained.

Tite is married to Rosmari and has a daughter and son Matheus Bachi, who played NCAA Division II soccer at Carson–Newman University. Tite is a practising Roman Catholic. As a youth, he studied physical education under Luiz Felipe Scolari at school. Like Scolari, Bacchi family immigrated from Italy. Scolari went on to be his mentor and then rival as a coach. He went on to graduate in physical education at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas.