After his retirement, Tesser began a coaching career in 1992 for
Serie D side
Sevegliano, and successively became a coach at the youth level for Udinese and
Venezia. His first professional coaching job came in 2001, for
Serie C2 side
F.C. Südtirol. In 2003, he replaced
Ezio Rossi at the helm of
U.S. Triestina Calcio of
Serie B. After an excellent season, followed by a poorer one, Tesser moved to
Cagliari Calcio of
Serie A in 2006, but was fired just after the first league match by team chairman
Massimo Cellino. In July 2006, he was named coach of
Ascoli, replacing
Marco Giampaolo. However, after a series of struggling results ended in a 1–0 home defeat to
Empoli F.C. in the 11th matchday, Tesser was fired and replaced by
Nedo Sonetti. Tesser started the
2007–08 season at the helm of Serie B side
Mantova, with the aim to fight for a promotion spot; however, results did not confirm the initial goals, and he was sacked on 24 February 2008, leaving Mantova in seventh place, seven points far from the fourth playoff spot. In January 2009 he accepted a coaching offer from
Lega Pro Prima Divisione club
Padova; however, his stint with the
patavini lasted only one month, as he was sacked later on February. In June 2009, he was named manager of
Novara. His tenure proved highly successful, as he led his club to the
Lega Pro Prima Divisione title in his first season in charge. In the
2010–11 season, Tesser repeated himself as he guided Novara to third place in the final table, then won a second consecutive promotion to
Serie A after defeating
Reggina and
Padova in the playoffs. The Serie A comeback however proved to be particularly difficult for Novara, who only won 12 points after the first 20 games: this cost Tesser the job, as he was removed from his managerial duties on 30 January 2012 following a 2–0 away loss against
Palermo; he was replaced by veteran coach
Emiliano Mondonico. On 6 March 2012, he was recalled by Novara as head coach, but on 31 October 2012 he was again sacked. On 13 June 2015, Tesser was appointed as the head coach of
Avellino, replacing
Massimo Rastelli. In the summer of 2016, he was hired by the
Cremonese. He was dismissed from Cremonese on 23 April 2018. On 4 July 2018, Tesser has been appointed as the new head coach of Pordenone Calcio. On his first season as Pordenone boss, he guided the small Friuli club to direct promotion to Serie B (the first in club history) as
Serie C/B champions. He was fired on 3 April 2021 after a 4–1 loss to
Brescia that left Pordenone two points shy of relegation. Tesser was subsequently named new head coach of ambitious Serie C club
Modena for the 2021–22 season; under his guidance, the
Canarini won the Group B title by the end of the
campaign, thus ensuring themselves promotion to Serie B for the following season. After a mid-table finish in the
2022–23 Serie B campaign, Tesser was dismissed by the end of the season as Modena appointed
Paolo Bianco at his replacement; successively, Tesser was appointed in charge of Serie C club
Triestina. On 4 February 2024, following a home loss against
Pro Patria, Tesser was dismissed from his coaching post with immediate effect. On 27 November 2024, he accepted to return to Triestina, as the club was dead last in the league. After guiding Triestina to safety, Tesser was not confirmed as the club's manager, largely due to financial issues that eventually led to a 20-point deduction just before the start of the new season. On 24 October 2025, just a day after the removal of interim head coach
Geppino Marino, Tesser was reinstated as Triestina head coach for his fourth stint in charge of the
Alabardati. On 21 January 2026, after failing to turn the club's fortunes, Tesser departed from Triestina by mutual consent. == Managerial statistics ==