HUNTSVILLE – Sam Houston head football coach Phil Longo announced the hire of Blair Vaughan on Wednesday as the Bearkats' strength and conditioning coach for the upcoming 2025 season. 

Vaughan joins the Bearkats after two seasons as the Associate Head Football Strength Coach at Arizona. His time with the Wildcats included a 2023 season which saw the program go 10-3 and take down Oklahoma in the Valero Alamo Bowl.  

His time in Tucson followed a stint from 2020-2022 on the Army strength and conditioning staff as an assistant strength and conditioning coach. He arrived at West Point after spending one season as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at Robert Morris. While at RMU, he primarily assisted with football and was the head strength and conditioning coach for men's and women's soccer, as well as softball. 
  
Prior to RMU, Vaughan interned at his alma mater, Western Kentucky, and Ohio State with their football programs. While at OSU, the Buckeyes won both the Big 10 championship and Cotton Bowl during the 2017 season. 
  
He earned his bachelor's degree in exercise science in May 2017 from WKU, where he was a 4-year letter winner for the Hilltoppers as a running back and linebacker.  

During his playing career, Vaughan was a part of WKU's first AP Top 25 finish in 2015 being ranked No. 24 overall after a 12-2 season. Vaughan finished his playing career winning back-to-back CUSA titles in 2015 and 2016 as well as three straight bowl victories (2014 Popeyes Bahamas Bowl, 2015 Miami Beach Bowl, and 2016 Boca Raton Bowl). 
  
In addition to earning his bachelors from WKU, he received his master's degree in sports administration in July 2019 from Southeastern Oklahoma. 
  
Vaughan is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, as well as a Functional Range Conditioning Mobility Specialist. Additionally, he is also USAW & RPR certified.