New Alabama baseball coach Rob Vaughn jokes he 'almost passed out' meeting Nick Saban

New Alabama baseball coach Rob Vaughn has arrived in Tuscaloosa and has met several members of the Crimson Tide athletics department.

Vaughn met and talked with Alabama football coach Nick Saban on Monday. It’s safe to say that was a pretty cool moment for Vaughn.

“I got to meet Coach Saban yesterday,” Vaughn told the media on Tuesday, according to On3’s Charlie Potter. “I almost passed out in there. That was one of the most intimidating things I’ve been a part of.”

While it may have been intimidating, Nick Saban is obviously a pretty good coach for Rob Vaughn to learn from after coming over from Maryland. Saban has won seven national championships, as well as 10 SEC titles. Even for college head coaches in other sports, he’s a big-time name to meet and talk with.

Vaughn held a press conference on Tuesday after officially being named the head coach on Monday.

He is replacing the outgoing Brad Bohanon, who was fired amid a betting scandal earlier this season. Interim coach Jason Jackson took over and led the Crimson Tide to the Super Regional this season.

Jackson is staying on as the top assistant coach under Vaughn.

Vaughn was 183-115 overall as a head coach with the Terrapins. He coached the team starting in 2018 and was an assistant with the Terps from 2013-17. He also served as an assistant at Kansas State from 2011-12.

“I’m excited to get started. I’m excited to roll my sleeves up and get to work, because the cupboard’s not bare, I can promise you that,” Vaughn said, according to Potter. “It’s time for us knock down the gates of Omaha. I’ve been waiting all day to say this: Roll Tide.”

Drew Williamson reveals emotions on turning Alabama program around over five years

Alabama baseball went on an inspired run to end the season after they were in quite a bit of turmoil towards the end for off-the-field reasons. Alas, their quest for a College World Series berth came up just short as the Tide ran into a buzzsaw in No. 1 overall seed Wake Forest, who dominated ‘Bama to the tune of 27-9 scores across the first two games to sweep the Super Regional round.

Of course, the end of the season means it’s time to reflect on the year that was. For fifth-year senior Drew Williamson, there’s no reason to hang his head. He said in the postgame that he’s still proud of the work the team put in, especially in an even stronger SEC than normal.

“Okay, that’s a long hard ride. Hey, tough conference and it’s just…it’s just relentless all the time,” said Williamson. “Once you think you may have taken that next step you just get hit right in the mouth and it’s just that constant battle, just back and forth. You’re hitting them out, get backup and, you know, I mean, our goal is to go to Omaha this year and we came up two wins short of that one. But I know the work that we put in and that’s all you can control at the end of the day. You can’t control outcomes, but we control the work that we put in, and I can hang my hat on them.”