Rob Vaughn Describes Coaching in First SEC Tournament as ‘Surreal’

HOOVER, Ala.— Surreal.

That is the word that Alabama baseball head coach Rob Vaughn used to describe how it feels to compete in the SEC Tournament for the first time in his coaching career.

“It’s awesome,” said Vaughn. “At the SEC meetings this year, I sat back and there were so many conversations about the future of this tournament. I said ‘Man, the one thing I remember is being in the Big 10 Tournament all those years, I would come back from our game there and the first thing you do is turn the SEC Tournament on. The way the town supports this, the way Hoover has been unbelievable… What a facility. This is baseball. This is like Rosenblatt [the former College World Series Stadium in Omaha] South a little bit. Awesome to be here. I’ve watched this for a long time, it's a bit surreal to be standing here today.”

In his first year as the Crimson Tide head coach, the 36-year-old led the program to the No. 7-seed in the event, the highest the team has been seeded since 2013. And although the team ended its regular season on a sour note, Vaughn is ready to do what’s needed to make a deep run in Hoover.

“I think tomorrow, for a lot of reasons, is a huge game,” said Vaughn. “For us, for South Carolina, for all these teams in single elimination. We’re one of five 13-win teams in our league and you rest a lot easier in this league if you get into double elimination. It’s gonna be a big game. We haven’t mapped out much past tomorrow, we’ll send it, do whatever we gotta do tomorrow to stay on the right side of the tournament.”