Tony's takes: Is Rob Vaughn Alabama's latest second-season success story?

You only get one chance to make a first impression. But when it comes to Alabama coaches, it’s the second look that has set the recent greats apart.

Nick Saban’s 7-6 debut season is swept under the rug. Instead, his 16-year dynasty with Alabama started when he led the Crimson Tide to an undefeated regular season during his second year in 2008.

It’s the same story for Nate Oats. While his first season was cut short due to COVID-19, Alabama basketball all but certainly would have been left out of the NCAA Tournament had there been one in 2020. The next year, Oats had the Tide dancing to the Sweet 16, picking up SEC regular-season and conference titles along the way.

Patrick Murphy was a second-season success as well. He led Alabama softball to a regional in his debut season in charge of the team, but things didn’t start really taking off for him until Year 2, when he helped the Tide punch its first-ever ticket to the Women’s College World Series in 2000.

Those seem to be promising signs for Rob Vaughn, who just coached Alabama baseball to its first 40-win regular season since 2002 in his second year in charge of the program. Now we’ll see if he can finish off his strong second act over the next month.

While last week’s 1-1 showing in the SEC Tournament might have cost Alabama a chance to host a regional, Vaughn seems to have the Tide in a good spot heading into the NCAA Tournament.

Alabama will have to wait until Monday’s selection show to find out its tournament fate. In the meantime, the Tide is currently projected as a No. 2 seed in a winnable Tallahassee Regional by Baseball America.

Despite its lackluster showing in the SEC Tournament, Alabama figures to be a tough out in whatever regional it winds up in.

Vaughn didn’t use ace pitcher Riley Quick during Alabama’s two games in Hoover last week. Instead, the powerful right-hander will enter next weekend’s regional fully rested and looking to solidify himself as a first-round pick in this year’s MLB Draft.

Speaking of elite talent, the Tide might have the top overall player in next year’s draft. Sophomore shortstop Justin Lebron won’t be draft-eligible until next spring, but he’s already one of the top players in college baseball. The five-tool talent leads the Tide with 18 home runs, 72 runs batted in and 17 stolen bases while ranking third on the team with a .315 batting average. He’s also a member of the SEC’s All-Defensive team.

Quick and Lebron might be the headliners of Vaughn’s second-year squad, but the Tide’s success is equally due to the underrated talents the head coach was able to lure into the program.

Two of Alabama’s most successful additions this offseason came from the junior college ranks, as Vaughn brought in center fielder Richie Bonomolo Jr. and right fielder Bryce Fowler. Bonomolo is second on the team in batting average (.320), RBIs (52) doubles (16) and stolen bases (16), while Fowler is batting a respectable .261 with 12 stolen bases and has thrown three batters out from right field.

A former JUCO talent himself, Vaughn has developed a nose for sniffing out successful second impressions. Last year, he added Kade Snell from Wallace Community College after the outfielder fizzled out at Auburn earlier in his career. This season, Snell is Alabama’s team captain and leads the Tide with a .366 batting average to go with 10 home runs and 52 RBIs.

“If you look around our team, there's a reason there's a heavy JUCO influence,” Vaughn told The Tuscaloosa News earlier this month. “Those kids were all, at some point, told they weren't good enough, and they had a choice to feel bad for themselves. But if you're going to go to JUCO and play baseball, it's because you want to be a lead baseball player, not for the glitz and the glamour of it.”

Similar to Saban’s standard, Oats’ blue-collar basketball and Murphy’s mudita approach, Vaughn didn’t waste any time implementing his identity into his program. The second-year head coach centers his method around three pillars — toughness, ownership and grit. Alabama has displayed all three of those qualities this year while putting together its most promising season in two decades.

Vaughn seems to have a pretty good blueprint in place at Alabama. And if recent history holds true, the Tide shouldn’t have to wait long for success to follow.

In keeping with the theme of this column, it only made sense to go with the most famous No. 2 cocktail as this week’s drink of the week. The Corpse Reviver No. 2 is part of a family of cocktails designed to cure hangovers. While Vaughn didn’t exactly need to revive Alabama’s baseball program when he took over two years ago, maybe this will breathe some fresh life into the Tide heading into the NCAA Tournament.

For this drink, you’ll need .75 ounces of gin, .75 ounces of Lilett, .75 ounces of orange liqueur, .75 ounces of lemon juice and a bit of absinthe. Add all the ingredients except the absinthe to a tin with ice and shake. Strain that mixture into a coupe glass rinsed with absinthe and enjoy.

Cheers!

(Commercial break: My drink of the week section is now sponsored by my friends at Session Cocktails in Tuscaloosa. Session has been a mainstay in Tuscaloosa’s cocktail scene since 2019 and offers some of the tastiest drinks in town. Stop by and tell them I said hi!)