Charmco – Over the last 30 years it has not been unusual to see former Greenbrier West all-stater Kelly Vaughan on the sideline.
When the 2023 high school football season kicks off, Vaughan will again be among the Cavalier players, but this year he will not be there as an assistant coach.
Friday afternoon, Vaughan was named the fifth head coach in the 55-year history of the school, replacing Toby Harris who resigned a couple of weeks back.
“I have worked for coach (Howard) Hylton, coach Harris and big Lou (Lewis McClung). Each one of those guys won 100 games or more,” Vaughan said. “We have a culture that is football and small town America. It is one of the best. Our kids play hard and our coaches work hard. I think the reason Greenbrier West has been successful is stability.”
Prior to joining the Greenbrier West staff in 1991, Vaughan had a stellar football career in Charmco and later at Wake Forest University.
During his days in a Cavalier uniform, Vaughan was the rarest of talents playing both quarterback and nose guard. As a junior he earned special honorable mention honors before being named first team all-state as a senior defensive lineman.
With plenty of options available at the next level, Beckley native, and future Marshall University head coach Bobby Pruitt, recruited Vaughan to Winston-Salem, N.C. to play for the Demon Deacons.
“He lied to me,” Vaughan said, laughing. “He told me I could play quarterback. He didn’t tell me the other guy named Mike Elkins was going to be there too. He was the second quarterback drafted (to the National Football League) behind Troy Aikman in 1989.”
Instead of playing under center, Vaughan moved to defensive end where he started for three years and was a four-year letterman.
“I came there to play. I didn’t go there to sit on the bench,” Vaughan said. “Thank goodness I had the size and could put weight on. Wake Forest was great to me.”
The move proved to be a good one for the former Cavalier standout who was named Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Week on multiple occasions.
“When we played North Carolina my junior year and I was Player of the Game a couple of times against Army and Michigan,” Vaughan.
During his playing days at Wake Forest, Vaughan played for coaching greats Al Groh and Bill Dooley. Following graduation in 1989, Vaughan joined the staff at Wake and then followed Pruitt to the University of Mississippi a year later.
However, there was something calling him home – family.
“I had never seen my (twin) brothers (Chris and Steve) play. When they were going through junior high and high school, I was playing at the collegiate level,” Vaughan said. “I came home their senior year and coach Hylton offered me a job. That is how it got started.”
During his first year on the staff, Greenbrier West advanced to the state championship game where the Cavaliers dropped a tough 31-22 contest to Spencer.
“I got spoiled. I thought I was a good coach,” Vaughan said, playfully. “We had a nice bunch of kids.”
Vaughan was the defensive coordinator at his alma mater from 1991-2016, before returning under Harris in 2019.
After becoming the first person to play (1984) and coach (1998 and 2014) in the North-South All-Star Football Classic, Vaughan now gets his chance to sit in the driver’s seat for the first time.
“Nothing is going to change,” Vaughan said with a chuckle. “We say we are going to throw the ball more, but we don’t. The key to winning football games is playing good defense and don’t turn the ball over. Football is not a science. The bottom line is, if you have the dogs, you have the dogs. I don’t see why we would want to change. What we have done has been solid.”
What will not change, according to Vaughan, is the expectations for success at Greenbrier West. With the return of a veteran squad this year, those expectations will be even higher for the first-year head coach.
“Expectations are high, but I like it that way,” Vaughan said. “I am proud of our community. I am proud of our school and I am proud of our kids. They are blue-collar workers and I really believe we are a top-tier single-A program in the state. We want to keep it that way.”
Opening night for Vaughan and the Cavaliers will be Aug. 25 against Pendleton County which will also be the first game for West on its new synthetic surface.
