Alabama Baseball Getting Advice From…Tennessee?

Alabama baseball departed on Wednesday morning for Omaha, Nebraska, for the Crimson Tide's first trip to the College World Series since 1999. It's uncharted territory for everyone surrounding the Alabama baseball program, including head coach Rob Vaughn.

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It's not uncommon for coaches to message one another. It's a dog-eat-dog business in college athletics, and several coaches have worked together at previous stops, met at coaching clinics, or developed relationships after coaching against one another. Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn is no different. Alongside Alabama, this is Vaughn's first trip to the College World Series as a head coach.

Despite the lack of experience in Omaha, Vaughn isn't changing the message to his team: Stay where your feet are.

"I had a friend of mine at Wake Forest, who is the head coach at Duke now, and he called me last week. He said 'So many times, you get to this point in the season, and you never stop to smell the roses,'" Vaughn said to the media on Wednesday morning. "As a coach, you're always on to the next thing. You win, and you're on to recruiting. You win, and you're on to the next game, whatever it is.

"He's like, 'Just take a minute to just be present and understand what you guys have accomplished and done thus far, and then move on to the task at hand.'"

Corey Muscara is the head coach of Duke baseball, but he isn't the only one Rob Vaughn heard from after Alabama defeated St. John's to clinch its spot in Omaha. The Crimson Tide's head coach heard from Tennessee's former head coach, Tony Vitello.

"I got a voice text yesterday from Tony Vitello, who, I know in our circles here, is not a beloved figure," Vaughn said with a smile, "But he's a friend of mine I've known for years. He sent me a voice text before their game out in San Francisco, giving me some advice on his first time here and what he felt, how he addressed it, and how to keep the focus on the main thing.

"There's a lot of things on the outside. There's a lot of media responsibilities, there's a lot of fans, a lot is pulling at these kids' attention. Not forgetting that we have a job to do and how to stay focused and not waste energy on other things. Really grateful that he took the time to send me that."

Alabama will face Oklahoma in the College World Series on Saturday, June 13, at 2:00 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN for television and Tide 100.9 FM for radio.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.