John Vaughan resisted the temptation. Despite being a long-tenured football coach in Western Pennsylvania, Vaughan held his sons out of football until he felt they were old enough to really want to play.

But Vaughan made sure his sons did participate in one sport: wrestling. And in the case of his youngest son, Central Catholic (Pa.) senior Dan Vaughan, who will be playing football at Syracuse this upcoming season, it made all the difference.

Dan Vaughan, a three-star defensive end recruit according to Scout.com, credits his development as a football player to his background in wrestling, which predated his football career by about six years.

‘I don’t think I would have developed into the player I am today without wrestling,’ Vaughan said. ‘I think wrestling was the biggest thing that helped me get where I am today and without all the technique that I learned, I don’t think I’d be half as good as I am today at football.’

Vaughan had 99 total tackles and 13 sacks for undefeated Pennsylvania state champion Central Catholic this past season, along with 14 rushing touchdowns and a stellar 8.0 yards per carry.

On the mat, Vaughan was just as effective, compiling a 118-26 record in his four years. As a junior, he placed fourth in the state and won his section’s wrestling tournament. As a senior, he placed second in the section and third in the region, but fell just short of placing in the state tournament.

The combination of wrestling and football is not an unlikely one. Wrestling and football incorporate similar techniques including balance, coordination and leverage. The sports are often viewed as perfect complements for one another during high school sports seasons, especially for larger football players including linemen.

‘Wrestling is basically everything that football incorporates,’ Vaughan said. ‘All the footwork and leverage movement. I’ve been wrestling for 12 years, and I picked up all that (football) stuff wrestling. Everybody says when they see a great football player he learned that from football, and for me and a lot of kids actually, they learned all the footwork and hand skills from wrestling.’

For John Vaughan, the decision to get his sons (Dan’s brother Andy is a freshman wrestler at Pittsburgh) involved in wrestling at such a young age was an easy decision.

‘It’s a very hard sport, and you’ve got to be very disciplined to be good at it,’ John Vaughan said. ‘It’s a sport that teaches great balance. I’ve seen it in here in Western Pennsylvania so many times where kids that were good wrestlers become good football players.’

With the skills learned in wrestling, Dan Vaughan was able to apply them to football and find success. Playing primarily as a linebacker and fullback at Central Catholic, Vaughan said that leverage he learned in wrestling allowed him to duck around guys and force himself around guys that are bigger than he is. He said wrestling allows him, at 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds, to move around kids and get around them more easily than those who did not wrestle.

Mike Downing, the head wrestling coach at Central Catholic, said the balance Vaughan learned on his feet from wrestling helped him in blocking and getting past a guard. He also said the toughness Vaughan learned through wrestling played a role as well. Downing, who has coached Vaughan since he was young, calls his former 215-pound wrestler ‘just an all around tough kid.’

That toughness is the first thing Central Catholic football coach Terry Totten talks about when mentioning Vaughan.

‘He’s probably the toughest kid I ever coached,’ Totten said. ‘Just a day-in and day-out grinder and a very tough kid on both sides of the ball. He never missed a practice or a rep even, he’s just a very tough kid, good athlete, great work ethic, great leader. I can’t say enough about him.’

The toughness was shown through Vaughan’s play this season. John Vaughan and Totten both made mention of how Dan Vaughan played every play for Central Catholic this season, which tallied more than 3,000 plays during a perfect 16-0 season. John Vaughan said in all his coaching years, he has never seen anyone play as many snaps as his son.

With his wrestling career now on halt for the time being, Dan Vaughan is excited for his years at Syracuse – although Orange fans might have thought different earlier in the year.

In a January article by The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Vaughan said, ‘For now I had to commit to Syracuse because of the scholarship. They are running out of scholarships because they got other recruits. What’s happening now is apparently (Pitt)’s trying to give me another scholarship. If that were to happen I would de-commit from Syracuse and take Pitt.’

But Vaughan insists he is looking forward to donning the Orange and helping the team win. He said he talked the situation over with SU head coach Greg Robinson, and they diffused the matter. And he said the situation can be used to help him.

‘I think it is extra motivation,’ Vaughan said. ‘I want to prove myself at Syracuse. I want to make this program better so I’m definitely excited to come in and do that.’

mrehalt@syr.edu

Published on March 18, 2008 at 12:00 pm