Alabama Baseball’s Rob Vaughn Praises Kalen DeBoer, Predicts Result of Alabama-Georgia

Alabama baseball coach Rob Vaughn shared some of his thoughts on Saturday's Alabama-Georgia matchup.

Feb 23, 2024; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn stands on the dugout steps during the opening game of the weekend series with Valparaiso at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. / Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News / USA TODAY NETWORK

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— There’s no secret that anticipation for Saturday night’s game at Bryant-Denny Stadium between No. 2 Georgia and No. 4 Alabama is at a fever pitch. The two unbeatens are set to do battle in the first regular season meeting between the sides since October 2020.

One of the individuals sharing in that immense excitement is Crimson Tide head baseball coach Rob Vaughn, who spoke Friday prior to his team's fall practice session and offered up some insight on how he thinks the game, set for 6:30 p.m. CT, will shake out. 

“It’s gonna be interesting,” Vaughn said. “I’ve said this several times, but I think my favorite thing about Coach [Kalen] DeBoer, and the way he’s gone about it, even [athletic director] Greg Byrne at the top, if you go hire Nick Saban 2.0, that doesn’t work.” He elaborated with his opinion that he’s seen the same pursuit of excellence and standard from DeBoer and his staff, but that DeBoer is also undeterred by the prospect of being himself and bringing his own approach to the table.  

“I texted him the other day,” said Vaughn, who added that DeBoer got back to him within a couple of minutes. “I just told him, as a young coach, how much I appreciate seeing him be confident in who he is and not trying to be somebody else. When you do that, man, it becomes dangerous.” 

As for the contest itself, the 37-year-old Vaughn foresees a close matchup that will be decided in the late stages. Like much of the college football world, he is excited by the combination of Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe and freshman wide receiver Ryan Williams. That’s the tandem Vaughn thinks will ultimately be the difference in the game if things do come down to the wire. 

“I think they’ve got a heck of a group, and it’s gonna be, it’s been really fun to watch… Tide are on top, for sure,” he said. “I think we’re gonna have a game going into the fourth quarter, and Milroe and Williams are gonna connect late and win this thing at the end.”

On the baseball side of things, Vaughn and his program have already faced Georgia before during his tenure, falling at Foley Field to a resurgent Bulldogs squad in Athens, Ga., this past March. It hasn’t been much longer since the two SEC juggernauts faced off on the gridiron, as Alabama beat Georgia 27-24 last December to win the SEC Championship. However, since that time, much has changed: Vaughn (who was hired in June 2023) didn’t even get to the official start of his first regular season in Tuscaloosa before the mid-January retirement of former Crimson Tide football coach Nick Saban, after which DeBoer took the helm.