Alabama reportedly finds its new baseball coach

Alabama reportedly finds its new baseball coach

A day after its season ended, the Alabama baseball team appears to have its next head coach lined up.

Maryland head coach Rob Vaughn is expected to be the hire, Bama247 reported Monday afternoon. The site also reported interim coach Jason Jackson would remain on staff as the Crimson Tide’s top assistant.

Vaughn would come to Alabama after winning consecutive Big Ten titles at Maryland where he spent the last 10 years as an assistant and then head coach. He compiled a 183-117 over six seasons in the top job including a 120-53 mark the last three seasons.

The Terps won the Big Ten tournament title this season and hosted an NCAA regional a year before that.

A 2009 graduate from Kansas State, Vaughn played catcher for three seasons in the White Sox farm system before beginning his coaching career as a volunteer assistant at his alma mater. He went to Maryland a year later before being named head coach after the 2017 season.

Vaughn arrives at an Alabama program that loses a veteran core from a team that finished 43-21 after a super regional loss at No. 1 Wake Forest. The 22-5 loss Sunday capped a wild final month-plus of the season that saw head coach Brad Bohannon fired May 4 amid an investigation into improper gambling practices.

Jackson guided the program through those troubled waters and into position to host its first NCAA regional in 17 years. He expressed his interest in retaining the head coaching job after Sunday’s loss at Wake Forest.

“I would love to come back,” Jackson said. “I love this university. I love these players. I love the guys that are here. I love coaching this team. I love all of them. It would mean a whole lot to come back.”