Super Bowl champion joins WSSU coaching staff as safeties coach

Photo courtesy of wssurams.com
Chip Vaughn

Former NFL player Chip Vaughn has a Super Bowl ring. He’s now after more hardware, hoping to help lead the Winston-Salem State football team to CIAA titles and Division II national championships.

Vaughn is entering his first season as safeties coach.

He joined the Rams coaching staff in July as part of the NFL Players Association Coaching Internship program but has since been hired full time.

Vaughn is one of three current WSSU coaches with NFL playing experience, including wide receivers coach and special teams coordinator Thabiti Davis and running backs coach Natrone Means.

The 29-year-old Fairfax, Va. native played safety at Wake Forest, where he earned First-Team All-ACC honors as a senior in 2008, before being drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the fourth round of the 2009 draft.

Vaughn received a ring from the Saints’ 2010 Super Bowl run despite suffering an injury in the preseason that forced him to miss the season.

He went on to play two more seasons in the NFL for the Philadelphia Eagles, Indianapolis Colts and Carolina Panthers.

The NFLPA Coaching Internship was implemented in 2011 as part of the NFL collective bargaining agreement.

The program, built in collaboration with the American Football Coaches Association, is designed to help former players transition into other fields of work.

Vaughn was given his pick of any Division II, Division III or National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics school. He said WSSU was an easy choice.

"Being a Wake guy, I’m familiar with the town and everything," Vaughn said. "And Winston-Salem State has had a great football program the last four to five years; Coach [Boulware] and his staff have done a fantastic job. All of these things made me feel like this would be a great fit for me."

Vaughn joins a staff led by second-year head coach Kienus Boulware, whose passion is also defense.

The Rams went 9-2 in Boulware’s first season at the helm in 2014, losing in the CIAA championship game.

WSSU was ranked No. 20 in Division II in the 2015 American Football Coaches Association Preseason Poll after finishing last season No. 24.

"It’s been great working with Coach Boulware," Vaughn said. "Anytime you can get around different defensive schemes that have been successful, it just expands your whole game more. Coming here has made my knowledge of the game grow."

Photo courtesy of thenewsorleanssaints.com
Former Wake Forest and NFL safety
Chip Vaughn joined WSSU
as safeties coach in July, 2015.

Boulware said Vaughn has been a great addition to the staff.

"He’s played safety at the highest level, so he’s brought great knowledge of the position," Boulware said.

"I’ve been here for six years, and we’ve been doing things one particular way defensively. To have Coach Vaughn come in and for him to tell us, ‘Hey, this is what we used to do,’ it’s just brought a different perspective to the game."

Boulware’s appreciation for Vaughn was shown in a huge way after just three weeks, when Vaughn, who was still an intern at the time, was offered a job coaching outside linebackers at Catawba College.

When Vaughn informed Boulware of the offer and told him he intended to accept, Boulware and WSSU matched Catawba’s offer, which persuaded Vaughn to stay.

The WSSU job isn’t Vaughn’s first experience as a coach.

He served as the secondary coach at Furr High School in Houston, Texas in 2014.

Vaughn said he is looking forward to his career as a coach, but he knows he has a lot to learn.

"My plan right now is just to learn everything I can," Vaughn said.

"Even though I played, the coaching aspect is a lot different. In coaching, you have to be able to explain schemes and techniques. I’m not going to say I’d be opposed to being a head coach someday, but right now I’m just focused on growing as a coach."

One thing that will help Vaughn is his experience as a player, especially the fact he played in the NFL.

Vaughn said he feels like that will help him gain the respect of his players.

"When I was a player, I responded better to a coach that had actually done it," Vaughn said.

"It didn’t even have to be that he played in the pros. As long as he strapped it up and knew what it feels like out there on the field. There’s a different perspective from a guy that played football and a guy that never played. From a player’s perspective, there’s a stronger bond there."

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