Focused on family: Byron Vaughns embracing tumultuous journey from Texas to Baylor

One summer, when Byron Vaughns was a kid in Fort Worth, his parents, Paul and Natalia, took him to a party at a water park.

Before they knew it, Byron was up on top of the diving board, getting ready to jump off.

“We looked at each other and were like, ‘Can Byron swim?’ Natalia said. “The next thing you know, he’s jumping off and teaching himself to swim. He learned things on his own. He’s always been energetic and full of life.

“He’s kept us on our toes.”

Byron is a bit of a football nomad. He played high school football at Arlington Martin and Fort Worth Eastern Hills. He started his college career at Texas, where he spent three years, and has played the last two years at Utah State before coming to Baylor ahead of this season.

“He brings a mentality of, ‘I’ll show you, let me prove it to you,’” Baylor head coach Dave Aranda said. “It’s been great for the defense. I think his growth off the field (has) been way cool. He’s just trending in all the right directions, and (I’m) way proud of him.”

This week, as Baylor hosts Texas for the final time as conference foes, figures to be an emotional one for Byron.

He said it’ll be fun to reconnect with some players on the Texas roster that he played with, like wide receiver Jordan Whittington, defensive lineman T’Vondre Sweat and offensive lineman Christian Jones.

There might be a little friendly trash talk, too.

“Right after I tell him he stinks, I’m gonna laugh, and I might give him a hug and see if he wants to false start,” Byron said with a smile.

Bright burnt orange lights

There’s nothing quite like playing football at the University of Texas.

On top of the raucous fan base and unending coverage about every single detail of the program, there’s a suffocating pressure to consistently win, something that hasn’t happened in Austin for more than a decade.

Byron, who was recruited by head coach Tom Herman and defensive coordinator Todd Orlando, had big eyes for the Longhorns, and committed on the spot after his first visit.

“It was my first offer and my biggest offer,” Byron said. “It was an exciting moment for me, and it was definitely a blessing and opportunity to be able to go there and figure myself out some more.”

UT coaches told him he was going to play mostly in his usual outside linebacker position and be an athlete on defense, running around and covering whatever needed.

“I wanted him to do a couple of other visits to make sure it was the right one,” Natalia said. “But that’s who Byron is, he’s loyal. Once he makes a decision and he’s locked in on something, that’s pretty much it. We just supported him. We went all-in for Texas.”

It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows during his time in Austin.

He redshirted in 2018 and played in 10 games during his redshirt freshman year in 2019, finishing with 14 tackles, including a career-high eight tackles in the Longhorns’ home win against Kansas that year.

He didn’t see the field in 2020.

“Coming out of high school and going to Texas was a big shock for me,” Byron said. “I’ve played every snap from the first time I started playing football. Getting to Texas, I wasn’t playing or being a producer. It was definitely at my lowest point.”

It got worse.

“Somebody on the Texas staff told me I’m a waste of a scholarship,” Byron said. “Looking back on it, it was that person trying to motivate me, but at the time I took it like, they didn’t believe in me, so I started getting in my head and tearing myself up.”

Being at college was fun, but the football side of things was tough.

Off the field, he said he started suffering mental breakdowns and had an identity crisis. That’s when he realized that he was more than just a football player. Looking back now, he’s happy it’s something he went through as a freshman instead of a senior.

Through it all, his family was the thing he leaned on most.

“Getting those texts after my worst days or worst games that said, ’You’re okay’ (helped),” Byron said. “Whether it was raining, hot or snowing, my family were the ones that always believed in me.”

Rise of the underDAWG

One of the best decisions Byron made was switching his allegiance from Longhorns to Aggies.

The Utah State Aggies, that is.

“I figured out that I’m way stronger than I thought I was,” he said.

On the field, he exploded, playing in all 14 games as a sophomore in 2021 and being named Defensive MVP of the Mountain West Championship game after finishing with five tackles and a sack.

He started nine of 11 games as a junior in 2022 and had 56 tackles, the fifth-most on the team, with a team-high nine quarterback hurries.

“I really buckled down,” Byron said. “I had a lot of outside noise at Utah State that said I was a decent player. Once I found my track at Utah State, it became like a hunger and a drive to want to be able to do this every day.”

Meanwhile, once NIL allowed college athletes to create brands and make a little money, Byron and Natalia came up with DAWG (Do All With God). Eventually, that morphed into underDAWG.

Natalia is a designer, and the family does all the design and production for the clothing line themselves. It’s not the biggest money-maker, but it fills Byron’s gas tank every once in a while. Plus, it’s in their identity that they feel fits him well.

“He has all the measurables and all the talent, but he’s always taken the scenic route to get to his destination,” Natalia said. “He does not turn on navigation to see what road bumps he can avoid. He gets in the car and starts driving.”

While that internal GPS took Byron on a journey to Utah that he never saw coming, it also took him on a path of growth and understanding.

“It doesn’t matter if you have a great game or a terrible game, you know how you messed up and how to reflect,” Byron said. “I won’t let anybody else get in my head and get me too high or too low.”

Blessings on the Brazos

There was a time not long after entering the transfer portal after two solid years at Utah State where Byron thought his Division I football ride was over.

Schools like Notre Dame and Florida State were initially interested in Byron, who left Utah State a shade over 210 pounds. Once they saw he wasn’t getting closer to 245 pounds, the opportunities started to dwindle.

“That was another chip on my shoulder,” Byron said “I know I can play great ball at 215.”

Byron was in the transfer portal for five months. His family was once again the people he leaned on most when he started to get depressed.

He went to the Baylor spring game in April, where Aranda, outside linebackers coach Caleb Collins, defensive line coach Dennis Johnson and defensive coordinator Matt Powledge told him that he could contribute.

Much like he did at Texas more than five years earlier, he committed on the spot.

“I don’t know how much more of a blessing we could’ve got,” Natalia said. “Between the number of home games and the proximity to home, it was huge.”

Through three games at Baylor, Byron is tied for ninth on the team with six tackles, is second on the team with three tackles for loss and is tied for the team lead with two sacks, both of which came in last Saturday’s 30-7 win over Long Island.

“I’m most proud of how Byron has stepped in everywhere he has been, and he’s able to adjust,” Natalia said. “He’s not scared of a challenge.”

There were times when the peer pressure almost got to Byron, and he wanted to walk away from the game that he’d played since he was a 4-year-old and had dreamed of playing at the highest levels.

With a huge assist from his family, he never gave up.

“If you don’t look back and remember how hard you worked and what you did to get where you are, you might just fall back down,” Byron said. “I look in the mirror at night and talk to myself. I tell myself to be better than I was yesterday. Even if it’s just making people smile, just be better.”