Alabama baseball coach Rob Vaughn drew interest from jobs around the country, but he’ll be sticking around Tuscaloosa for the 2026 season. UA extended Vaughn’s contract, the Crimson Tide’s NIL collective announced Tuesday night.

Yea Alabama did not release details as to the contract’s length, or Vaughn’s compensation. He had initially signed a five-year deal in 2023 upon arrival in Tuscaloosa, a contract that would pay him $900,000 per year.

Kendall Rogers of D1 Baseball reported that Texas A&M “took a hard look” at Vaughn. The Aggies wound up retaining coach Michael Earley instead of making a change.

Vaughn took over an Alabama team that was reeling following Brad Bohannon’s gambling scandal and firing. He joined up from Maryland, and quickly found success with the Crimson Tide.

The 2025 Alabama squad finished the year 41-18. The Crimson Tide won one game in the SEC Tournament, but went 0-2 in the NCAA Tournament’s Hattiesburg Regional to end the year.

Alabama went 33-24 in Vaughn’s first season. The Tide also made the NCAA Tournament in 2024, though, like 2025, failed to win a tournament game.

Vaughn was named the Big Ten’s coach of the year for two consecutive seasons with Maryland before moving to Alabama. He began his coaching career as an assistant at Kansas State, where he played his college baseball.

Vaughn’s contract still needs to be approved by UA’s board of trustees. The board will meet in Tuscaloosa on Thursday and Friday.

Alabama signee Eric Hines, who slugged American Christian to the Class 5A state title this spring, has been named the Gatorade Alabama baseball player of the year.

Gatorade announced the news Tuesday morning.

The 6-foot-3, 225-pound Hines hit .438 with 20 home runs, 58 RBIs and 66 runs scored for the Patriots. The Alabama Sports Writers Association named him the Class 5A Player and Hitter of the Year over the weekend.

Hines led ACA to a 34-14-1 record. After dropping the first game of the Class 5A finals to St. Paul’s, the Patriots rallied to sweep the final two games and win the title.

“Eric Hines is a joy to coach because of the many outstanding qualities he brings to the team,” American Christian Academy coach Del Howell said in a Gatorade press release. “He does things that you cannot teach, and he shows up in the biggest moments for his team. He is so consistent and is always striving to be a better player.”

The Gatorade Player of the Year is a top honor in high school sports, celebrating the nation’s best high school athletes for their success on the field, in the classroom and in the community. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the state winners in each sport.

Each player of the year receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner.

Hines joins a distinguished list of players to win the award in Alabama, including Bob Jones’ Braden Booth, Oxford’s Hayes Harrison, Pike Liberal Arts’ Drew Nelson, UMS-Wright’s Maddux Bruns and Chilton County’s William Kohn.

The Alabama Sports Writers Association will announce its Mr. Baseball winner on Sunday evening at the group’s annual convention in Jacksonville.

Former Alabama standout offensive tackle Jedrick Wills suffered another setback and is expected to miss a large portion of the 2025 NFL season, per NFL insider Jordan Schultz.

“Sources: Free agent OT Jedrick Wills, who dealt with a lingering knee injury last season, is planning to sit out most — or possibly all — of the upcoming season to fully recover and get back to 100%,” Schultz wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).

“Wills, the former Browns’ top 10 pick, has drawn interest from multiple teams and is still just 26 years old — but he believes taking this time off is the best move for the long-term future of his career.”

Wills played in a large majority of the Cleveland Browns’ games during the first three years of his career, but he’s logged a combined 13 contests over the last two seasons.

Wills experienced a recurring right knee injury during the 2024 NFL season, ultimately leading to him being placed on injured reserve and ending his year earlier than he had hoped. He also suffered a season-ending knee injury in November 2023, requiring arthroscopic surgery.

Wills elected for free agency on March 10 and it looks like he won’t be signing with a new team anytime soon.

Wills showed a lot of promise during the first couple years of his NFL career, as he was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team in 2020 and finished top-20 among all NFL offensive linemen in sacks allowed during his first two seasons. Once his knee is eventually healed, he’s still young enough to enter his prime.

Wills dominated opposing edge rushers and defensive linemen while at Alabama, as the 2017 CFP national champion was a First Team All-SEC member in 2019 and landed on the All-American Second Team that same year.