Rob Vaughn explains how his time at Maryland prepared him for this opportunity at Alabama

New Alabama coach Rob Vaughn is now a successful 35-year-old college baseball coach, who reached the NCAA Tournament each of the past three seasons with Maryland.

Prior to taking over the Terrapins program, he was a young assistant who in his own words wasn’t ready to be a head coach.

Still, former Maryland Athletics Director Kevin Anderson promoted Vaughn after John Szefc left to become the head coach at Virginia Tech. Rob Vaughn now credits his time at Maryland for preparing him for his current opportunity at Alabama.

“As we look back, I’m nothing without the opportunity I had at Maryland,” Rob Vaughn said at his introductory press conference. “You know, I was 29-years-old, probably in all way, shapes and forms was not prepared to be a head coach at the age of 29. And Kevin Anderson, the then-AD at the time, handed me the keys to that program.”

It was a tough start for Vaughn in Year 1 as his Maryland squad finished 24-30. Year 2 wasn’t much better as the Terrapins went 29-29. However, Anderson and current AD Damon Evans stuck by him.

“Damon Evans, the AD currently, trusted me with that program. There were some ups and downs,” Vaughn said. “We were bad Year 1. I promise we’re going to try and not be 24-30 our first year like we were my first year there. But we went through some ups and downs, and I had the support of the administration.”

Eventually, Vaughn got the program to where it needed to be. Maryland made the NCAA Tournament three consecutive years, while winning the Big Ten each of the past two seasons. The Terrapins combined to win 90 games the past two years, topping the 40-win mark both seasons.

Vaughn credits his players for his success.

“I had the support of players. That really warms my heart hearing my former guys talk about me like that, because I think it’s one thing us as coaches really strive to do. We strive to develop relationships. You strive to build those things with those people. But you don’t know if it lands all the time,” he said. “I’ve got kids that are working in real estate, I’ve got kids that are playing in the major leagues, and I’ve got a kid that’s an Army ranger now serving his country and doing some pretty special things. So to hear that and to see what they’ve become, I owe everything I am to my former players, and the ability of me standing up here right now is nothing without those guys.”