Alabama baseball has a new man in charge as former Maryland head coach Rob Vaughn was hired as the Crimson Tide’s 33rd head coach on Monday afternoon.

Here are five things to know about the Crimson Tide’s latest hire:

Despite being a young coach, Vaughn already has many notable achievements and accolades to his name.

Facing a mediocre recruiting draw at Maryland, he helped the Terrapins sign their top recruiting class in school history while he was an assistant in 2015. Vaughn carried over that success as a head coach, routinely seeing the Terps punch over their recruiting weight.

During his career, Vaughn has coached 11 All-Americans and 35 All-Conference selections. He's seen saw 29 of his players either drafted or signed to professional contracts.

As for his own personal accolades, the young coach has many to account for. He’s earned back-to-back Big Ten Coach of the Year awards, showing Terrapins fans what a team is capable of with him behind the reins.

Maryland has reached three straight NCAA tournaments for the first time in program history. Aside from the NCAA tournament, the Terrapins have won back-to-back regular season Big Ten titles under Vaughn and took home their first conference tournament title this season.

While he was on staff in College Park, Vaughn led his team to its four winningest seasons in program history, including 2014, 2015, and 2017 as an assistant, as well as 2022 as a head coach.

Tuesday, Vaughn said he believes he has everything in place to carry over his success to Alabama, stating the Crimson Tide is returning plenty of talent from last year’s team while also bringing in an exciting crop of new players.

“This program has laid the foundation,” he said. “Now, it’s time for us to knock down the gates of Omaha, and we’re gonna do this real soon.”

While being one of the youngest coaches in Division I baseball, the 35-year-old Vaughn has developed into one of the brightest names in the game.

After leaving the Chicago White Sox organization in 2010, Vaughn began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant at his alma mater, Kansas State. He spent a quick two-year stint with the Wildcats before being hired as an assistant at Maryland in 2013.

As an assistant coach, Vaughn took the primary role in recruiting for Maryland. He remained in that role through the 2017 season before replacing John Szefc as head coach. Upon taking the reigns in 2018, the then 30-year-old was the youngest Power Five head coach in college baseball.

The Crimson Tide beat out another SEC school for Vaughn’s services. According to sources, the hotly-pursued coach turned down a head-coaching offer from Missouri before agreeing to his deal with Alabama.

Tuesday, Vaughn spoke about his decision to accept the job at Alabama, rattling off a list of reasons including the program’s 14 SEC regular-season titles, seven conference tournament titles, 16 former All-Americans and 164 draft picks among other accolades. He also pointed to the universities commitment to athletics across the board, signaling out Nick Saban, Nate Oats and Patrick Murphy among the top coaches in their respective sports.

“Why Alabama?” Vaughn said. “You look at that and you see elite-level coaches. You see the ability to win. You see the ability for these young people to get drafted and be everything that they wanna be a part of. That’s why my family is here, that’s why we’re here and that’s why we’re so excited to be a part of this family.”

On top of the ability to succeed, Vaughn is expected to get a significant raise at Alabama. While his contract has yet to be revealed, sources told TideIllustrated that he’s expected to earn somewhere in the range of $600,000-$750,000 per year. Vaughn’s contract at Maryland saw him make a $300,000 base salary as well as $150,000 in supplemental annual income.

While Vaughn has made a name for himself with his success at such a young age, he is also known for his unique approach to hitting which he calls “The Pack.”

“The Pack” originated at Texas A&M in 2006 after former Aggie head coach Matt Deggs watched a documentary that expressed the theme that wolves work as a pack in order to defeat prey such as a buffalo. Deggs’ used this mindset for his team and passed it on to former Kansas State head coach Andy Sawyers, who then instilled it in Vaughn.

The comparison of a pack of wolves to a baseball team may seem rather obscure, but it does have a legitimate meaning. The main idea of the philosophy is just how each wolf plays a role in the pack, each player on the lineup plays a role in terms of hitting. For example, some batters are meant to get on base, others drive in the runs, and some can even do all three, but each and every player on the roster has a particular role to play in the lineup.

“Every wolf in the pack has its job, and it’s no different than our offense,” Vaughn said. “When you look at it, every hitter is built different. Jimmy Jarvis isn’t the same as Tommy Seidl. They’re not built the same, they have different skill sets, and for us to coach them the same, doesn’t make any sense.”

“The Pack” approach gives players a better understanding of what the goal is for each and every game, which is to win. Rather than being concerned about personal performances, players will understand how to perform in their role in order for the team to succeed.

“That’s really what’s it all about – how can we emphasize what you do really well, and how can we understand what this is all about?” Vaughn said. “It’s not me going 3-for-3. It’s us finding a way to score 5-6 runs and take down a Friday night guy. I think it’s fun. Guys like being a part of it.”

While the team works together as one unit, Vaughn pushes his three Pillars of the Pack: Approach, Toughness, and Intensity. With this new team mindset, the new head coach aims to lead his Crimson Tide pack in the right direction.

When discussing the Crimson Tide’s future coaching staff, Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne passed on some friendly advice to Vaughn.

"You’ve got to have somebody on your staff that knows what sweet tea and grits are," he said.

Vaughn got the message, and even described the decision to retain interim head coach Jason Jackson as a “no-brainer.” However, the Humble, Texas native was already pretty familiar with the South himself.

In case you’re wondering, Vaughn has had his fair share of sweet tea and grits. Tuesday, he said he’s also looking forward a part of Southern culture again as well.

“I grew up in Texas, so I grew up with ‘yes ma’am, no ma’am,’ manners, this and that,” Vaughn said Tuesday. “It wasn’t necessarily the same with where I’ve spent the last 11 years. Different culture, different environment.

“It was such a great time for my family and I, but I literally looked up at JJ during his exit meetings and I heard all the guys saying, ‘Yes sir, yes sir.’ I was like, gosh it’s good to be home. It’s good to be back down here.”