Arizona State football names Andy Vaughn to lead recruiting

Attempting to reset amid an ongoing NCAA investigation of its recruiting practices, the Arizona State football program on Wednesday named Andy Vaughn as its associate athletics director for player personnel and recruiting.

Vaughn will lead a refurbished recruiting staff after diretor of player personnel Al Luginbill retired. The front office of the Sun Devil program also lost staffers Ryne Rezac and Matt Seiler more recently, according to SunDevilSource.com.

Vaughn takes charge after defensive coordinator, associate head coach and recruiting coordinator Antonio Pierce resigned from head coach Herm Edwards’ staff a week prior.

Since 2019, Vaughn had been the director of player personnel for the Miami Hurricanes under since-fired head coach Manny Diaz.

“Andy Vaughn stood out in our vetting process while having 20 years of experience in talent identification, evaluation and recruiting experience in college football,” Sun Devils deputy athletics director and football general manager Jean Boyd said in a release.

“Andy is known for his highly detailed and organized methods and he has impeccable references. He’s a team player, a hard worker and will elevate our overall recruiting strategy and system.”

Miami posted the 17th-ranked class in 2020 and 11th-ranked class in 2021. The Hurricanes currently have the 15th-ranked class under first-year coach Mario Cristobal.

Before Vaughn’s stint with the Hurricanes, he was with the Arizona Wildcats in 2018, serving as senior director of recruiting and high school relations under former head coach Kevin Sumlin.

“My family and I are excited to head back to the state of Arizona to be part of one of the Pac-12’s top-tier universities and athletic programs,” Vaughn said in a press release. “I appreciate Coach Edwards, Ray Anderson and Jean Boyd for the opportunity to join the Arizona State Football program.”

Vaughn has stints in player development and recruiting at Nebraska (2015-17), Nevada (2012-14) and Middle Tennessee State (2009-12).

The South Carolina native played at North Greenville University and got his football operations start at Clemson in the early 2000s.

Vaughn has a tall task ahead of him. As of Pierce’s resignation a week ago, the Sun Devils had only nine commitments who are not transfers and had the 104th-rated class in the nation, according to 247 Sports. It’s the worst class in the Pac-12 this year and historically the worst for ASU since 247 Sports’ database began in 1999.

Pierce had been named in reports about the ongoing NCAA investigation into ASU’s alleged recruiting violations. The coach’s departure was the fifth related to an NCAA investigation looking into allegations that ASU staffers committed recruiting violations during the COVID-19 dead period in 2020.

Arizona State has not yet named a defensive coordinator replacement. It has replaced offensive coordinator Zak Hill, who also resigned, with former UNLV OC Glenn Thomas.

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