Jacque Vaughn's Journey To Become Nets Head Coach
Jacque Vaughn has been with the Brooklyn Nets organization for seven seasons. During that time, he jumped around on the coaching staff but that came to an end on Tuesday morning.
The Nets agreed to a contract extension with Vaughn to keep him as the head coach for years to come. The deal is reported to have the 48-year-old coach in the head chair through the 2026-27 season.
“Extremely thankful and excited about the fact that the organization such as ours chose to have me continue going forward with this group," Vaughn told reporters in a virtual meeting on Wednesday afternoon. "For me, I’m excited about the challenge ahead of growing with this group, getting the most out of this group, and pushing this group, so excited about that what the new and next chapter in Nets basketball looks like and excited to be a part of it.”
During the leadup to his contract extension, Vaughn disclosed that he knew the conversations within the front office were going on. That didn't affect him from focusing on his job.
“I approach my job real simplistically every day. I give everything I have every ounce and I reload and try and do it again the next day. I knew there was some conversation behind the scenes going on," he said. "For me, I did not worry about it or get stressed about it or put any additional food on my plate at all. Just did my job every day and being rewarded for doing that.”
The contract extension for Vaughn means a lot to him. Outside of knowing that he's the head coach for years to come, the fact that he knows his messaging in the locker room and within the organization is comforting.
“Yeah, I think it's a huge acknowledgment. Just for the staff and for the comfort of the players knowing my voice and direction going forward. I think being able to really lean into loving this grind and the challenge that's ahead," Vaughn said. "Never feared or not walked through those doors before; so to get rewarded for it is pretty cool. For my family and for the borough of Brooklyn, and how important and what that's come to mean to me, it's great to be on the same page with the organization.”
Beyond the front office, only Vaughn and veteran wing Joe Harris have seen almost everything that has transpired in Brooklyn. That includes three superstar trade demands (James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant), championship expectations crumbling, and much much more. Like all who endured the wild ride over the last seven seasons, Vaughn's confidence never wavered.
The head coach was passed up multiple times for Brooklyn's past head coaching vacancies. The organization went with Kenny Atkinson after Tony Brown was relieved on April 18, 2016. Then after Atkinson was dismissed from his duties in the middle of the season, Vaughn served as interim head coach. That short tenure spanned for 10 games and a first-round playoff series in the NBA Bubble run.
Instead of keeping Vaughn as the head coach, the organization chose Steve Nash. The Hall of Fame guard coached the Nets for just over two seasons before "mutually parting ways" with the franchise. Since then, Vaughn was the head coach under the interim tag for a short time before being officially named the head coach going forward.
Despite the difficult time of hopping around the bench on the Nets coaching staff throughout his tenure, he never lost confidence that one day he'll be the head coach of the Nets. That period serves as a great lesson for his kids: always continue to do your job.
“I just kept doing my job. It’s a great lesson for my kids. I think at the end of the day when I talk to them about it’s like, good news, bad news, who knows. That old fable," Vaughn said. "You just continue to do your job and you persevere and you love to grind and they know that’s a part of me.
"I’ve seen it all here, whether it’s multiple coaches, whether it’s the bubble, whether it’s a toenail over the three-point line, whether it’s trade requests, whether it’s all of the above. And so to still be a part of this organization means a lot to me," he added. "That means the way I carry myself on a daily basis, people appreciate it. So there’s something to that, but at the end of the day I just kept doing my job and showing up every single day and ready to rumble every single day.”
Vaughn has guided the Nets to the fifth-best record in the league (32-19) since taking over as Brooklyn's acting head coach, then assuming the position on a full-time basis, on Nov. 1. Across his two stints as head coach, he's compiled the second-best win percentage (63.9 percent) among head coaches in franchise history.
