Vaughn Constantly Making a Big Presence

By: D. Scott Fritchen

The most popular guy in the room is 20 years old, measures 5-foot-6 and 176 pounds, and wears a black Kansas State football t-shirt and a necklace bearing a gold cross. His presence has been known to cause breakfast goers to stop cutting into their omelets at Early Edition. His presence has forced Oklahoma linebackers to freeze in the open field. His presence at the Manhattan Catbackers event at the Kansas State Alumni Center on June 6 had 300 hootin' and hollerin' attendees thirsting to see what Deuce Vaughn will do next at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in the fall.

"DEUUUUUCCCCE!" they shouted in unison.

Vaughn is considered the top running back in the Football Bowl Subdivision heading into the 2022 season by Pro Football Focus. He is considered the No. 5 running back in the 2024 NFL Draft by NFLDraftScout.com. Already he has garnered mention in Mel Kiper's preliminary 2023 NFL Draft rankings and is listed in The Athletic's "Way Too Early" Big 12 Conference top NFL prospects.

Vaughn, a junior, is also mentioned for Heisman Trophy consideration by ESPN.

"Oh man, the expectation, even having my name mentioned, it brings a sense of 'I have a lot of work to do,'" Vaughn says over clinking silverware at the Manhattan Catbackers event. "It isn't something I'm focused on. This is a very team-driven program and I've fallen right into that culture. Just to get back to work this summer with my guys, everything will take care of itself this fall."

Some of Vaughn's statistics are darned near legendary. He enters the 2022 season No. 1 in the FBS in career points per game (8.1) among all active non-kickers, second in the FBS in career all-purpose yards per game (134.48) among active players, sixth in rushing yards per carry (5.7) and total touchdowns scored (31). He also enters the 2022 season third in Big 12 history in scrimmage yards per touch (6.8), just behind Oklahoma's Kennedy Brooks (7.0) and Texas' Vince Young (6.9). The only player in K-State history to reach 3,000 all-purpose yards prior to the end of his sophomore season, he needs just 98 receiving yards to become the first player in K-State history and the 11^th in the history of the Big 12 to reach 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards in a career.

He wrote down the goal of being an All-American long before he came to Kansas State. He wrote down the goal as a child. And now? Just the 11^th Consensus All-American in K-State history, Vaughn is just one of five (out of 27) consensus All-Americans returning for the 2022 season, joining Bryce Young (Alabama), Jordan Addison (USC), Will Anderson Jr. (Alabama) and Brian Battle (South Florida).

"(All-American) was something I'd written down as a little kid that I wanted to do whenever I played college football," Vaughn says. "To be able to have that dream come true through all the hard work and sacrifices that went along with it, it's a surreal feeling."

How important has football been to Vaughn's life?

Heck, as a toddler he slept with a football.

"Surreal" is a word Chris Vaughn, Deuce's father, uses several times in speaking about his son during a conversation one day in June.

Chris Vaughn previously served as assistant coach at Arkansas, Tulsa, then back at Arkansas, then Ole Miss, Memphis and Texas. Today, he is a scout for the Dallas Cowboys. During college football season, he typically works out of his home in Round Rock, a suburb 30 minutes north of Austin, and then flies to observe potential targets every other weekend.

One photo in Chris Vaughn's home office shows him holding Deuce in his arms after a big win at Arkansas — Deuce is wearing a "Vaughn" Arkansas jersey — and another photo shows father and son doing the Landshark symbol at Ole Miss.

Deuce Vaughn experienced college football long before he put on the K-State uniform for the first time. He practically grew up in college football locker rooms, hearing speeches from head coaches while also watching highly decorated running backs Darren McFadden, Matt Jones and Dexter McCluster operate in practice. He studied their work ethic and how they handled themselves as people, leaders, and offensive weapons.

"It's a little surreal," Chris Vaughn says. "It's surreal to me and my wife. I was coaching at Arkansas when Darren McFadden was there, but it's surreal when it's your son. To see people react to Deuce, it's surreal. People are looking at him and wanting his autograph. He takes it all in stride. He remembers what it was like when he was around Darren McFadden, Matt Jones and Dexter McCluster and how they spent time with him, so that's important for him to do with everybody else."

Vaughn paused to spend time with his parents for two weeks in mid-May before reporting to K-State for summer conditioning in June. Marquette is her son's No. 1 fan but is "brutally honest" and "doesn't sugarcoat anything" if her son isn't meeting his standard. Chris looks at his son through the lens of a dad but maintains the objectivity of an NFL scout — "I look at it objectively and think, 'That was a pretty good run,' and 'that was a pretty good game,' and 'he had four touchdowns in a bowl game,' and I talk myself through it because I don't want to be that dad, but it is surreal because Deuce is pretty good," Chris Vaughn says.

Named a 2021 First Team All-American as an all-purpose player from The Associated Press and as an athlete from Sporting News, Vaughn finished sixth in all-purpose yards per game (144.0), ninth in rushing yards (1,404) and rushing yards per game (108.0), and fourth in total touchdowns (22). He ranked No. 1 among Power 5 players with 59 touches that went for 10 or more yards (20.8% of 284 total touches). His nine games with 100 rushing yards were the most in school history by any player not named Darren Sproles.

Overall, he was the most valuable running back in the country in 2021, according to Pro Football Focus.

Vaughn capped his stellar season with a 21-carry, 146-yard, three-touchdown rushing effort (four touchdowns total) in the Wildcats' dominant 42-20 win over LSU in the 2022 TaxAct Texas Bowl on January 4.

Afterward, K-State head coach Chris Klieman touted Vaughn as the best player in college football.

"He's the best player in college football, in my opinion, and for a reason — a Consensus First Team All-American," Klieman said.

That was five months ago.

"Time has kind of flown by," Vaughn says. "The days are long, but the months are short."

Vaughn has held onto to the summer conversations with his folks.

"(We talked about) just the fact that there are going to be a lot of expectations going into my third year here, which is crazy to think about," Vaughn says. "It's flown by, and there are going to be a lot of expectations. (We talked about) the fact that I can't change anything I've done to this point and if anything, I have to elevate to meet those expectations. Just attack every day like I'm still trying to get crumbs at the table just like when I was a freshman and going into my sophomore year."

He's attacking every day this summer.

"He knows that he's not 6-1, 220 pounds and runs a 4.3," Chris Vaughn says. "He's aware of that so that drives him to do the little things. The thing I try to do is reiterate that the things that you've done to get to where you are at this point are the things that'll continue to help you become a good player. He's heard me say a million times, 'You never stay the same, you either get better or get worse.' I'll talk to him about what have you done different this summer that you didn't do last summer because you don't stay the same, you get better or worse. Those are conversations that we have.

"He has aspirations to play past college, so I've talked to him about that process and how being the best player he can be at Kansas State will help him to reach those dreams, but you have to keep everything in the right perspective. You have to be a productive player at your size. When I talk to him about those things, that's not looking ahead, but just letting him understand that you have not arrived. There are some players who have to prove that they can't play and there are some players who have to prove that they can. Because of Deuce's size, he's going to have to prove to people he can play. How do you do that? Be more prepared than everybody. A lot of things you can't control, but you can control that."

The task of preparation began soon after Vaughn signed with K-State and received his playbook in the mail. A former coach, Chris Vaughn helped his son put together a notebook. As an NFL scout, Chris Vaughn also had every K-State game at his disposal. "We went right to work," Chris Vaughn says.

"He was in there reading installs and we were talking football," Chris Vaughn continues. "It was a great bonding opportunity for us. We talked about football all the time and now we were talking about protections and fronts and pulled up film and showed, 'Deuce, here's that play you read about the other day. Here's the tape of that play.' Now he's continuing to do that. (K-State running backs coach) Brian Anderson told me there were only one or two other guys on the team that watched more film than Deuce did as a true freshman."

His diligence as a true freshman paid off.

To this day, Vaughn's favorite run came during his true freshman season during the 42-35 win over No. 3 Oklahoma in Norman — the first time K-State had beaten an AP Top 3 team on the road in history. Facing second and 10 at the Oklahoma 30-yard line, Skylar Thompson handed the ball off to Vaughn to the left side. Vaughn cut inside, found a seam, came face-to-face with a linebacker, and made him miss, then he disappeared into a pile of bodies, squirted through, cut up field and skated the final 22 yards untouched for a touchdown to tie the score at 35-35 midway through the fourth quarter.

"That's a memory that will stay with me a very, very long time," Vaughn says.

Anderson said that he dissected all 235 of Vaughn's carries and 49 receptions in 2021. Vaughn was one of just three players in the FBS to reach 1,000 rushing yards and 400 receiving yards. The goal? To turn five-yard gains into 10-yard gains.

"He already has a very good football IQ," Anderson says. "Now it's just taking it to another level."

Keen preparation has been key, not only in torching opposing defenders, but it's also been key in keeping Vaughn healthy.

"Going back and watching film with Coach Anderson, we notice that I always fall on my back and keep things away from my shoulders whenever I fall," Vaughn says. "It's weird to be able to kind of anticipate where a guy is coming from, from the pre-snap picture to whenever that picture changes, and I contort my body to make sure I'm not taking a big hit."

For as much as Vaughn's presence causes a stir on and off the field, it's his humility that shines through along with that wide smile. At the K-State pep rally at Miller Outdoor Park in Houston, Texas, prior to the 2022 TaxAct Texas Bowl, Vaughn stood on a stage and credited his success to "everybody in that building and everyone around me."

"I can't take any credit," he said.

That's Vaughn.

"Most humble kid I've been around, but he's a workhorse, and our players love him," Klieman says. "He loves K-State and he's big time. I love the kid, I love his heart and his resolve, and the fact that he wants the football."

Standing on stage at the Manhattan Catbackers gathering in early June, Vaughn stole the show again, as fans heartily applauded and cheered as Vaughn took the microphone.

Vaughn thanked the K-State fans.

Then he thanked his teammates.

Then he thanked his parents and coaches.

In a world of expectation, Vaughn, blessed with durability, mental and physical toughness, and otherworldly production, has maintained the creed that he's lived by all his life: He has made his size his strength. And he isn't finished.

In a way, it all goes back to Chris Vaughn, many years ago, back when Deuce was in the seventh grade, when it became apparent that Deuce's growth spurt didn't match that of his teammates.

Chris Vaughn told Deuce his size was his "superpower."

And he's making his presence felt everywhere he goes.

Schedule

Players Mentioned

Skylar Thompson

Deuce Vaughn

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