Syracuse Football: Get To Know Your Orange Man - #33 Dan Vaughan

Get To Know Your Orange Man Here! Today it's....

Name: Dan Vaughan

Number: 33

Position: Linebacker

Height: 6'2"

Weight: 219

Year: Senior (Officially official this time)

Hometown: Gibsonia, PA

HS: Pittsburgh Central Catholic HS

2011 Stats: Played in all 12 games, starting 11. Recorded 40 tackles, 2 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles

2012 Projections: After biding his time on the bench (which included a redshirt his first year.), then special teams, and then as a reserve, Vaughan stepped in as a starter for most of 2011. And judging by his eight-tackle performance in the season finale at Pittsburgh, Vaughan is going to be the man for 2012 at the outside linebacker spot.

How'd he get here: Vaughan was a big talent out of PA, playing defensive end and linebacker. In fact, he was named to the Terrific 25 by the Tribune-Review. Vaughan was offered a scholarship to Pittsburgh, but things didn't turn out and he ended up at Syracuse with Greg Robinson as his coach. So, it's safe to say Vaughan was probably miserable during his early time at Syracuse.

Luckily for him, Robinson got the boot and Doug Marrone came in and everyone lived happily ever after. What? Everything turned out great damn it...just move on! Iowa and Stanford both had interest in Vaughan too. But again, things worked out!

What did Rivals/Scout say: Both sleazy recruiting groups gave Vaughan a three star rating. With Scout ranking Vaughan the no. 88 defensive end in the 2008 recruiting class.

Money Quote: Prior to the start of the 2011 season Vaughan told Nolan Weidner of the Syracuse Post Standard he was ready to be a team leader and perform as a starter:

'I want to be treated as that leader. I want people to look to me to make plays, and when stuff’s going wrong I’ll pump them up, get them ready for the next play.'

Links O' Wonder: Being from the Pittsburgh area, Vaughan was especially pumped up for the game at Pitt last December. If you just look at his eight-tackle performance, and ignore the final score, it truly was a magical homecoming.

Also, if you're wondering where Vaughan and his linebacker mates are ranking in the Big East, Andrea Adelson has the unit at dead last in the conference coming out of spring practice. The rankings include Temple, people.

What does Marrone think? I think I heard Marrone say something like, 'Dan Vaughan is going to kill it this season. $%*^ is cra'y!'

Of course, that may have been said by nobody.

Nugget O' Interest: Dude's smart. Vaughan was named multiple times to both the Athletic Director's Honor Roll and Big East All-Academic Team. He also invented the first working time machine.

Let's get a good look Atchya: Is it just me or is Vaughan's high school team's video cooler than what SU produces for games at the Dome?