As Rob Vaughn met with the Alabama baseball team on Monday and sat in on exit interviews for the 2022 season, Vaughn had a moment in his busy day to run into a legend.

“Honestly, my wife laughs at me, I got to meet Coach (Nick) Saban yesterday. I almost passed out in there. That was one of the more intimidating things I’ve ever been a part of. But what a special thing here. You got the best coach of all time right down the street from us right here,” Vaughn said.

The comment drew a laugh in the media room of the Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility on Tuesday as Vaughn made his introductory speech as the Crimson Tide’s newest baseball coach. While sharing many of the stories and thanking those who got him from a minor leaguer with the Chicago White Sox to the two-time Big Ten coach of the year, Vaughn commented on what the opportunity meant to him and how he’s drawn inspiration from his new coworkers.

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“Watching Coach Oats and what he’s developed on the basketball court, seeing how they’ve done that from afar. Shoot, we follow from Maryland,” Vaughn said. “We watch those things and we see they way he’s developed that and how special an organization he has. Coach Murphy, an elite-level softball coach, good gracious. The best, if not one of the best softball coaches in the entire country. So you start to stack that up.

“I didn’t think I was gonna get emotional before we started right there,” Vaughn said. “I want to start by thanking everybody involved in this process. Starting with Greg, from our first conversation is was very clear the type of person he was. I want to thank his wife Regina for everything she’s done for my family and how she’s been through this process. Obviously President Bell. I walk in a minute ago and he’s holding my eight-, nine-month-old right there. So he’s already starting babysitting duty so that’s fantastic. … The biggest thing that drew me to Alabama, outside of the prestige, outside of all those things was the people. It started with Greg from that first conversation.”

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].