March 23, 2004

By Craig Muder
Courtesy of the Utica Observer-Dispatch

HAMILTON, N.Y. -- You can bet Don Vaughan's not smiling much today, not after what the NCAA did to his hockey team Sunday.

But the anguish of a missed NCAA tournament berth will pass for Colgate's athletic director. The trophies, however, will remain.

The little school in Hamilton has never had a bigger season on the athletic field. And it's Vaughan who's been the steady hand on the Raiders' wheel.

"The guy that's not getting the back-slap is the guy who left this job," said interim men's hockey coach Stan Moore, who took over in September when Vaughan agreed to become interim athletic director. "He's making sure everyone gets what they need at a time when he'd rather be coaching. People should take some time and notice that."

It can be tough to notice Vaughan, especially since he's been on the move since the moment he took the AD's job.

Meetings on campus, in New York, with Moore and the rest of his former hockey staff ... Trips to Florida and Chattanooga with the football team ... Talking with an endless string of people who need just a moment of his time.

So much for being the low-profile athletic director of a university known for brains, not brawn. Shhhh... the idea of Colgate turning into a jock school might not sit well with some faculty and staff.

Yet look at what the Raiders have accomplished in Vaughan's six months as AD:

-- The football team advanced to the finals of the Division I-AA playoffs and came within one win of a perfect season.

-- The women's basketball team won its most games ever (21), snapping a string of 16-straight losing seasons. Beth Combs' team capped the year with its first berth in the NCAA women's tournament.

-- The men's hockey team won its first ECAC regular-season championship in 14 years despite having Vaughan step down a month before the season started. The NCAA overlooked the Raiders in their quest for an at-large tournament bid despite the fact Colgate was ranked 13th nationally heading into Selection Sunday.

And the success isn't done. The softball team is favored to win the Patriot League and advance to the NCAAs.

As for Vaughan, he'll relinquish the AD's job this summer and head back behind the bench. His successor will inherit a program stocked with young talent -- the football, women's basketball and men's hockey teams all return the majority of their starters for next season -- and armed with athletic scholarships for the first time.

It would be wrong to suggest Vaughan accomplished this all himself, or that former AD Mark Murphy didn't generate a great deal of this success. On the other hand, if the Raiders' teams had struggled during Vaughan's tenure, he would certainly have shouldered some of the blame.

"This guy, under duress, has guided this program to where it is now," said Moore of his once and future boss. "He's done all of this even though it's not his true passion, for the good of the university."

Good doesn't begin to describe Colgate's athletic teams this year -- or what Vaughan has done for this school.