Maryland baseball head coach Rob Vaughn to leave in favor of Alabama

Alabama baseball has hired Rob Vaughn as its next head coach, according to Alabama Director of Athletics Greg Byrne. 

“I could not be more excited to join the Alabama Crimson Tide,” Vaughn said. “The culture, the people and the program speak for themselves. Watching the team from afar, I could tell just how special it is, and I cannot wait to get started and help get this group get back to Omaha.”

Vaughn, who became the youngest Power Five head coach at 29 years old when hired by Maryland in 2017, went 183-117 in six years at the helm. 

Maryland claimed back-to-back Big Ten regular season titles in 2022 and 2023 — including reaching a program record 48 games in 2022 — while winning the program’s first-ever Big Ten tournament championship in 2023. Vaughn won Big Ten Coach of the Year honors both seasons.

The Texas native led the Terps to three-straight NCAA tournament appearances from 2021 through 2023, exiting each time in the regional round. Maryland hosted the program’s first-ever College Park Regional in 2022.

“I want to thank Rob Vaughn for his 10 years at Maryland as he has lifted the Terrapin program to heights we have never seen before,” Maryland Athletic Director Damon Evans said. “We wish Rob and his family the very best in their move to Tuscaloosa.”

Vaughn will lead an Alabama program riddled with controversy the past season. Former head coach Brad Bohannon was fired midseason for “violating the standards, duties, and responsibilities expected of university employees,” according to the university.

Bohannon was found to have been connected to two large bets in advance of a Crimson Tide series against LSU. Multiple gambling commissions and betting operators removed the option to bet on Alabama baseball following the discovery.

Alabama advanced to the NCAA tournament under interim head coach Jason Jackson, losing in the Super Regional to Wake Forest. Jackson is expected to stay on Vaughn’s coaching staff as his top assistant, per 247Sports.

Vaughn agreed to a contract extension in June 2022 that ran through the 2027 campaign, but will leave College Park just one season into the extension. Vaughn’s extension provided him with a $300,000 base salary alongside $150,000 in supplemental income and an additional $180,000 in possible incentives, according to a Maryland Public Information Act requested by Testudo Times. Bohannon made $500,000 this past season with Alabama before his firing.

Vaughn joined the Maryland coaching staff in 2013 under head coach John Szefk as a recruiting coordinator and assistant coach. He was promoted to associate head coach for the 2017 season prior to being named head coach the following season.

Associate head coach Matt Swope will be promoted to head coach, according to Evans. Swope played at Maryland from 1999-2002 and has spent the past 12 years on the coaching staff. Swope has served as associate head coach the past two seasons. 

“I love this place and will work tirelessly to continue the winning ways we have made the standard for Maryland baseball,” Swope said. “There is so much to be proud of and I can’t wait to coach that first game on Shipley Field at Bob ‘Turtle’ Smith Stadium as the head coach of the Maryland Terrapins.”