On Monday, September 26, 2016, junior Vaughn Scott was announced as the second Kean University football player to achieve New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Special Teams Player of the Week recognition.
In Kean University's Saturday, September 24, 2016, match-up with William Patterson University, Scott served as a punt and kick returner. On that day he averaged 12.8 yards per punt return on four attempts as per the Kean University Athletics website. He set up the team's third touchdown with a 47-yard return. On the defensive side he added a 28-yard interception return for a touchdown.
The defensive back now ranks fifth in the conference with a 19.9 kickoff return average.
Scott is a transfer student from Paulsboro, NJ. He graduated from West Deptford High School and went to Fordham University to play football. After a year there he took a year off before starting community college. In the spring of 2015 he graduated with his Associate Degree in Liberal Arts from Gloucester County College in Sewell, NJ.
The 2016 season is Scott's second season playing for Kean University.
As of now he is a business management major, but is considering finance as an alternative option.
Scott's football career began at the young age of four and continued until 2012 when he stopped playing for a three year break. He is 23 years old now and brings much football experience to the field.
"My mom and dad signed me up for football when I was four," Scott said. "I have an older brother that always played football, so looking up to him, I always wanted to play because of him and he kind of got me into the sport also."
Currently, Scott is a defensive back, but growing up his main position was running back, while also playing defense too.
"As I got older, as far as college, they moved me to defensive back because I'm kinda smaller, so that was more of a fit for me," Scott said.
Growing up, Scott played a variety of sports including wrestling and basketball, but in high school narrowed his focus down to football and track.
Scott can definitely account for some differences in the playing environment of the two different schools he has played at and is playing at. At Fordham University, it was more serious and business-like instead of playing for fun, since most players were on a scholarship at the school. Here at Kean, Scott describes the team as a family and his personal goals for the season coincide with the goals of the team as a whole.
"My personal goals are just to do whatever I can to help our team win and achieve our team goals," Scott said. "I know if I'm the best player I can be personally help us as far as a team and achieving our goals."
Scott feels that by sticking with the game plan and staying focused it will lead them to success for the remainder of the season. By taking each game week by week instead of looking too far ahead, he feels they can finish out their season strong.
With the loss of several coaches who had opportunities at other programs, the new coaches have stepped up and fit in with their team like family. Although some players were lost from last year to this year, the new players are stepping up to fill in those roles.
"It's like we haven't missed anything," Scott said.
Also, with the return of last year's players who bring much experience to the field, he feels that the squad is more focused on what they want to achieve as a team rather than individuals.
With high hopes for the remainder of the season and the determination to be the best player he can be for the success of his team, Vaughn Scott and his fellow teammates are making a mark on the conference one game at a time.
