Brian Vaughns came back to the Whittlesea Pacers to coach the club’s Big V youth league men’s side – but now finds himself as head coach of the men’s side.
Vaughns has stepped up to the senior coaching role after newly appointed coach John Hauer had to stand down due to health issues.
“Shannon [Bodley, coaching director] asked if I would take the position,” Vaughns said. “I put my hand up and I’ll see how it goes.”
It won’t be the first time Vaughns has coached the men’s side – he was coach of the team the first year it played in the Big V.
He has since coached a number of women’s Big V sides, before taking last year off because of his own health issues.
Vaughns said that despite changing coaching roles, the overall plan for the Pacers didn’t change.
“It’s about grooming them to play at higher levels,” he said.
“I still want to implement the same process with the senior men. It will be a different look team, with youth league players coming up and being the nucleus of the team.
“We’ll sprinkle in some veterans to help mentor and grow the young players.
“We want the youth league to be direct pathway to the seniors and see it as the best formula for the program.”
He said ensuring the program’s long-term success,, instead of just focusing on climbing up the ladder next season, was the aim.
The Pacer struggled last season, winning just three games and finishing 11th.
“Ross [Moll] has done a great job but they had a down season,” Vaughns said.
“The question is, do you go straight back up by grabbing all these new players? Or do you start to look within and develop the team that way?
“We want to sustain for 10 years, not one or two.”
Damon Lowery, who is the club’s coaching co-ordinator, will coach the youth league men’s side.
All four Pacers Big V sides will have new coaches, with Mark McCathrion and Sally Braybon to coach the senior women and youth league women sides respectively.
McCathrion, who has previously coached at the Pacers, has both played and coached at a high level for a number of years.
Braybon, who was part of the Pacers 20ß09 D2W championship team, returns to the club after being an assistant coach at Hume City Broncos under Katrina Hibbert.
