Today’s Four Questions interviewee is first-year North Springs coach Walter Vaughn, whose team defeated Riverwood 48-12 last week. The victory was the first in an opening game for North Springs since 2017. The Spartans were 1-9 last season. Vaughn and North Springs sit atop the AJC Varsity/GHSF Daily Improvement Tracker in Class 4A. Vaughn has spent most of his coaching career in college, including Murray State and Colorado State. He was on Griffin’s staff last season and spent three seasons earlier this decade at North Springs.
What brought you back to North Springs?
“The opportunity to be a head coach. I was with this senior class when they were in the ninth grade here, so this was an opportunity to help these guys have a successful senior year. I think North Springs is untapped potential. Most of the kids have been in the shadows of other schools in the area and honestly not getting as much support as they should in the Fulton County community. They’ve been looked over, and I wanted to resurrect things and let them know they are no different than other schools in the area.”
Note: North Springs is in Sandy Springs, about six miles from a town that boasts Top 10 teams Roswell, Blessed Trinity and Fellowship Christian.
What was the state of the program when you were hired? What was the biggest area of need, and how have you addressed it?
“The biggest need when I got here was confidence. We had a lot of kids who had the talent and potential in them, but we didn’t have people around them to give them confidence. The program is growing. We probably have 55 to 60 young men, and we still have kids knocking on the door looking to come out and play some football. But what was lacking was confidence. It’s been a total swing of 180 degrees from the players as well as community support.
“We’ve addressed that in the weight room especially. We talk about it here at North Springs that if you’re not in the weight room, you’re not going to play. You can be part of the team, but you probably won’t get on the field. So it’s just been making sure they are attending and accountable for each other and that they are here in the summer.”
Did your team’s performance last week surprise you?
“No. Going through a full offseason program and seeing their weight lifting numbers up, we had some jump 30 to 40 pounds on the bench and 85 to 100 on their squat maxes. When you know you’re stronger and faster, you know you can play with people. It’s not those days of being the little brother being picked on. You start looking at yourself differently in the mirror.”
Note: Zaire Sykes passed for 228 yards, scored a touchdown and passed for a touchdown in the victory. Daniel Harris rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns. Jordan Shavers returned a fumble 97 yards for a touchdown.
Who is the person you first look to for coaching advice?
“I would say the head coach at Griffin, Bernard Goodrum. Griffin was like 2-8 (actually 1-9, in 2024), and in his first year they won seven games and made the first round of the playoffs (with Vaughn on that first-year staff). He said he was changing the mentality of the Griffin Bears. When I was a senior in high school, he was a freshman. We played at Spalding, the other high school in Griffin. The bond started then, and we stayed in touch during our college playing days and through coaching. He’s like my brother, and we’re always bouncing ideas off each other. We still talk constantly, on a daily basis, basically talking ball until we can’t any more.”
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