Brain Vaughn joined the Nebraska-Kearney football coaching staff in the spring of 2021 and serves as the Lopers inside linebackers coach.
An Illinois native, Vaughn has had coaching stops at Division II Florida Tech, Division III Rhodes (Tenn.) College, Rose-Hulman (Ind.) Institute of Technology, and Western New England (Mass.) University as well as junior college member New Mexico Military Institute. As a player he was a defensive back at Division III Illinois College.
Vaughn most recently was co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach at Florida Tech. The Panthers began playing football in 2013 and competed in the tough Gulf South Conference (GSC). Tech reached the 2018 D2 playoffs but the program was dropped in May 2020 due to financial strains from the ongoing pandemic. Vaughn saw the 2019 Panther defense have 11 interceptions for 125 yards and one score, 21 sacks and five forced fumbles. Three were named to the GSC all-league team including two defensive backs.
In 2022 inside backers Jacey Nutter (95 tackles) and Jimmy Harrison (88) both garnered All-MIAA honors. The pair ranked 1-2 on the team in tackles, combining for 18.5 tackles for loss (3.5 sacks) as well as seven pass breakups and five QB hurries. Nutter (251) finishes his career among UNK's all-time leader in tackles. As a team, UNK went 8-3 and ranked among the league leaders in scoring defense (18.7).
Harrison stepped into the lineup and replaced an injured Zach Schlager who earned All-MIAA honors in 2021. The newcomer recorded 73 tackles that year, second most on the team, as UNK went 10-3 and reached the D2 Playoffs for the first time in 11 years.
Previously, Vaughn was defensive coordinator at Rhodes, located in Memphis, during the 2017 season while being the DC at NMMI from 2014-16. There he crossed paths with Lynn and current Loper offensive coordinator Drew Thatcher as well as several future UNK players.
Vaughn was DC at Rose-Hulman in Terre Haute, Ind., for six years where he developed 22 all-league players and helped the Fightin’ Engineers win a conference title for the first time in a quarter century. Finally, he began his coaching career at WNEU in Springfield, Mass., and was the Golden Bears DC for four years.
