John Howard Vaught (May 6, 1909 – February 3, 2006) was an American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi ( byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment ...

(Ole Miss) from 1947 to 1970 and again in 1973. Born in

Olney, Texas Olney is a city in Young County, Texas, United States. Its population was 3,007 in 2020. History On May 18, 1951, the city was devastated by a violent F4 tornado. Thomas P. Grazulis noted this tornado was possible F5 on the Fujita scale. Geogr ...

, Vaught graduated as

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA) ...

from Polytechnic High School in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the List of cities in Texas by population, fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population, 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, T ...

and attended

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Discipl ...

(TCU), where he was an honor student and was named an All-American in 1932. Vaught served as a line coach at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United State ...

under head coach

Raymond Wolf Raymond Bernard Wolf (July 15, 1904 – October 6, 1979), nicknamed "Bear" Wolf, was an American football and baseball player and coach. Wolf was a native of Illinois and an alumnus of Texas Christian University (TCU), where he played college f ...

from 1936 until 1941. In 1942, Vaught served as an assistant coach with the North Carolina Pre-Flight School. After serving in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

as a

lieutenant commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...

in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, he took a job as an assistant coach at Ole Miss in 1946 under

Harold Drew Harold Delbert "Red" Drew (November 9, 1894 – October 20, 1979) was an American football, basketball, and track and field coach for over 40 years. He was the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team from 1947 to 1954, compiling a r ...

, and replaced Drew as head coach a year later. He did not take long to make an impact, taking a team that had finished 2–7 and leading it to the first conference title in school history. He led the Rebels to additional

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

titles in 1954, 1955, 1960, 1962, and 1963. To date, Vaught is the only coach in Ole Miss history to win an SEC football championship. He also dominated the

Egg Bowl The Egg Bowl (traditionally named the “Battle for the Golden Egg”) is the name given to the Mississippi State–Ole Miss football rivalry. It is an American college football rivalry game played annually between Southeastern Conference membe ...

rivalry with Mississippi State, going 19–2–4 against the Bulldogs. His 1960 team finished 10–0–1 and was the only major-conference team to go undefeated on the field that year. As a result, it won a share of the national championship; it was awarded the

Grantland Rice Award The Grantland Rice Trophy was an annual award presented in the United States from 1954 to 2013 to the college football team recognized by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) as the National Champions. Named for the legendary sports ...

from the

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

after the bowl games. In those days, the wire services crowned their national champion before the bowl games. It is very likely that Ole Miss would have finished atop one poll, if not both, had they been taken after the bowl games as they are today. His 1962 team finished 10-0 and finished third in both polls; to date, it is the only undefeated and untied season in school history. Vaught took Ole Miss to 18

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

s, winning 10 times including five victories in the

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed only ...

. Only two coaches held a winning record against Vaught: Paul "Bear" Bryant, with a record of 7–6–1 against Vaught, and

Robert Neyland Robert Reese Neyland (; February 17, 1892 – March 28, 1962) was an American football player and coach and officer in the United States Army, reaching the rank of brigadier general. He served three stints as the head football coach at the Univ ...

, with a record of 3–2. On September 7, 1966, Vaught told reporters from Associated Press that he was "just kidding" when he said he wanted to recruit African American players to Ole Miss. "We have to comply with some sort of act to get federal funds. We fill out a form to show that we have looked at one. By the time we find someone good enough, I'll be gone. Let someone else do that," he said, laughing. Vaught suffered a mild heart attack on October 20, 1970. His longtime line coach, Bruiser Kinard, served as interim head coach for the remainder of the season, though Ole Miss credits the entire season to Vaught. Vaught formally retired after the season.

Billy Kinard Billy Russell Kinard (December 16, 1933 – June 30, 2018) was an American football player and coach. He played professionally as a defensive back for the Cleveland Browns and Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL) and the Buff ...

, Bruiser's younger brother, succeeded him; he was appointed by his older brother, who had become athletic director. However, after a lackluster start to the 1973 season, Ole Miss fired Billy Kinard and demoted Bruiser Kinard. Vaught was named athletic director, and also served as interim head coach for the remainder of the 1973 season. Vaught's overall record at Ole Miss was 190–61–12. His 190 wins are far and away the most in school history. When Vaught arrived, Ole Miss ranked 9th in all-time SEC football standings. When he retired in 1970, Ole Miss had moved up to third, behind only Alabama and Tennessee. He was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vo ...

in 1979. In 1982, Ole Miss honored Vaught by adding his name to

Hemingway Stadium Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fi ...

. On February 3, 2006, Vaught died at the age of 96 in

Oxford, Mississippi Oxford is a city and college town in the U.S. state of Mississippi. Oxford lies 75 miles (121 km) south-southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, and is the county seat of Lafayette County. Founded in 1837, it was named after the British city of Ox ...

Head coaching record

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaught, Johnny 1909 births 2006 deaths American football guards North Carolina Pre-Flight Cloudbusters football coaches North Carolina Tar Heels football coaches Ole Miss Rebels athletic directors Ole Miss Rebels football coaches TCU Horned Frogs football players All-American college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees United States Navy personnel of World War II Sportspeople from Fort Worth, Texas People from Olney, Texas Players of American football from Texas United States Navy officers Military personnel from Texas