2017 Football Roster
Roster
Tyler Vaughns
- Position:
- Wide Receiver
- Height:
- 6-2
- Weight:
- 185
- Class:
- Redshirt Freshman
- Hometown:
- Pasadena, CA
- High School:
- Bishop Amat
• In the News • What They're Saying
CAREER: He has 222 receptions for 2,801 yards (12.6 avg) with 20 TDs in his career, along with 30 punt returns for 267 yards (8.9 avg) with 1 TD, 1 kickoff return for 10 yards (10.0 avg), 5 tackles and 1-of-1 passing for 36 yards and a TD. He is third on USC’s career pass receptions list (222 catches), which is tied for 15th on the Pac-12 career chart. He has 8 100-yard receiving games in his career. He has appeared in 45 games in his career, with 38 starts.
2020: The smooth, sure-handed Vaughns started for his fourth season at wide receiver as a 2020 senior. Overall in 2020 while appearing in all 6 games and starting 5 times (all but Utah), he had 33 catches for 406 yards (12.3 avg) with 3 TDs and returned 3 punts for 13 yards. He was named to the 2020 All-Pac-12 second team, AP All-Pac-12 second team, Phil Steele All-Pac-12 second team and Pro Football Focus All-Pac-12 third team. He was a 2021 East-West Shrine Bowl invitee.
He had 7 receptions for 53 yards against Arizona State, 7 receptions for 70 yards at Arizona. He had 4 catches for 62 yards with a short TD and returned a punt for minus 4 yards at Utah. He had 5 catches for 69 yards with a 35-yard TD and returned a punt for 15 yards against Washington State. At UCLA, he had 8 receptions for 128 yards with a 38-yard over-the-shoulder TD grab (he also outjumped several Bruin defenders for a 35-yard pickup on the play before USC’s gamewinning TD). He had 2 catches for 24 yards and a 2-yard punt return against Oregon.
2019: Vaughns started for his third year at wide receiver and also spent the first part of the season returning punts again as a junior in 2019. Overall in 2019 while appearing in all 13 games and starting 11 (all but California and Iowa), he had 74 receptions for 912 yards (12.3 avg) with 6 TDs, plus 7 punt returns for 46 yards (6.6 avg), 1 kickoff return for 10 yards (10.0 avg) and 3 tackles. He was slowed in the California game after spraining his ankle at Arizona State. His 74 receptions is 15th on USC’s season receptions list. He had 4 100-yard receiving games in 2019. He made 2019 All-Pac-12 honorable mention and Phil Steele All-Pac-12 third team. He was USC’s Offensive Perimeter Player of the Year.
He had 11 receptions for a career-high 150 yards and returned a punt 3 yards against Fresno State, then had 5 grabs for 106 yards with a 16-yard score and he had a 14-yard punt return against Stanford. He had 7 receptions for 65 yards, had a 4-yard punt return and made a tackle at BYU, 4 catches for 49 yards with a 29-yard TD and also made a tackle against Utah and 4 catches for 44 yards at Washington. He had 4 catches for 47 yards with a 5-yard TD and he also had a 6-yard punt return at Notre Dame, a game-high 7 catches for 73 yards with a 5-yard TD and also had 3 punt returns for 19 yards and a 10-yard kickoff return against Arizona and 9 catches for 104 yards with a 21-yard TD and a tackle at Colorado. He had a game-high 8 receptions for 75 yards against Oregon, 4 grabs for 39 yards at Arizona State, 6 grabs for 106 yards with a 49-yard TD against UCLA and 6 catches for 54 yards against Iowa.
2018: Vaughns, who had an eye-opening debut in 2017, continued to impress as he started for his second season at wide receiver as a sophomore in 2018 and he also was an effective punt returner. Overall in 2018 while appearing in all 12 games and starting 11 (all but Washington State), he had 58 catches for 674 yards (11.6 avg) with 6 TDs, 19 punt returns for 199 yards (10.5 avg) with 1 TD, was 1-of-1 passing for a 36-yard TD and caught a 2-point conversion pass. He was 13th nationally in punt returns (10.5, first in Pac-12). He made 2018 All-Pac-12 honorable mention and Pro Football Focus All-Pac-12 first team (as a punt returner).
He had 3 catches for 37 yards and returned 2 punts for 54 yards against UNLV. He caught a career-best 7 passes for 84 yards (both game highs) and had a 4-yard punt return at Stanford. He had 4 receptions for 36 yards and returned 2 kickoffs for 55 yards at Texas. He had a game-high 7 catches for 64 yards with a 9-yard TD against Washington State (he also had a punt return for no yards and caught a 2-point conversion pass). He had 2 grabs for 23 yards and returned 4 punts for minus 1 yard at Arizona. He had 5 grabs for 86 yards with a 27-yard TD along with 4 punt returns for 20 yards against Colorado. He had 2 catches for 1 yard at Utah. Against Arizona State, he earned Paul Hornung Award Weekly Honor Roll acclaim as he had 4 catches for 72 yards with a 48-yard TD, 2 punt returns for 79 yards with an 82-yard punt return for a TD (it was USC’s longest punt return since Nelson Agholor’s 93-yarder for a score at California in 2013) and threw a 36-yard TD pass off a lateral to become the first Trojan since at least 1971 with a TD catch, TD pass and punt return TD in a game. He caught 3 passes for 41 yards and returned a punt for minus 1 yard at Oregon State. He had 8 catches for 91 yards with 2 TDs (2 and 23 yards), all game highs, against California. He had a 19-yard reception at UCLA. He had a career-high and game-best 12 catches for 120 yards, with a 20-yard TD, and he returned a punt 22 yards against Notre Dame.
2017: Vaughns emerged as a key wide receiver as a redshirt freshman in 2017. Overall in 2017 while appearing in all 14 games and starting 10 times (all but Western Michigan, Stanford, Texas and California), he had 57 receptions for 809 yards (14.2 avg) with 5 TDs, along with a 9-yard punt return and 2 tackles. He made 2017 All-Pac-12 honorable mention.
He had an 8-yard catch and a tackle against Western Michigan, then had 4 catches for 25 yards against Texas and 3 grabs for 32 yards at California. He had 6 catches for 89 yards at Washington State, 5 catches for 68 yards with a 37-yard TD against Oregon State, 6 receptions for 65 yards versus Utah, 6 receptions for 65 yards at Notre Dame and 6 catches for 126 yards with 2 TDs (42 and 19 yards) at Arizona State. He caught 4 passes for 59 yards, with a 22-yard TD, against Arizona, then had 5 catches for 90 yards and a 9-yard punt return at Colorado, 2 catches for 37 yards against UCLA and 3 catches for 26 yards, with a 19-yard TD, against Stanford in the Pac-12 Championship Game. He had 6 catches for 119 yards and made a tackle against Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl.
2016: Vaughns redshirted as a first-year freshman wide receiver in 2016.
HIGH SCHOOL: He made 2015 Prep Star All-American Dream Team, Orange County Register Fab 15 first team, Tacoma News Tribune Western 100, USA Today All-California first team, Cal-Hi Sports All-State first team, All-CIF Pac 5 Division, Fox Sports West/Prime Ticket All-CIF, Los Angeles Times All-Area first team, San Gabriel Valley Tribune All-Area first team and All-Mission League Co-Player of the Year as a senior wide receiver and defensive back at Bishop Amat High in La Puente (Calif.). He had 84 receptions for 1,319 yards (15.7 avg) with 13 TDs in 2015, plus 10 carries for 70 yards (7.0 avg) with 2 TDs, 20 punt returns for 188 yards (9.4 avg), 8 kickoff returns for 289 yards (36.1 avg) and 2 interceptions.
As a junior in 2014, he made Max Preps Junior All-American second team, Cal-Hi Sports All-State second team, Max Preps All-State second team, Cal-Hi Sports All-State Junior first team, All-CIF Pac 5 Division, Los Angeles Times All-Area first team, San Gabriel Valley Tribune All-Area Player of the Year and All-Mission League Offensive Player of the Year. He had 83 receptions for 1,183 yards (14.3 avg) with 12 TDs in 2014, plus 9 carries for 41 yards (3.2 avg) with 1 TD, 5 kickoff returns for 86 yards (17.2 avg), 24 tackles and 4 interceptions and a 40.5-yard average on punts.
As a 2013 sophomore, he had 27 receptions for 395 yards (14.6 avg) with 4 TDs, threw a touchdown pass and had 2 punt returns for 47 yards (23.5 avg).
He also played basketball and baseball at Bishop Amat. Current Trojan Peter Esparza also prepped at Bishop Amat.
PERSONAL: He received his bachelor’s degree in communication at USC in the spring of 2020. His brother, Aaren, was a wide receiver at Mt. San Antonio JC and Utah State (2017-18), while brother, Geoffrey, was a defensive back at Mt. SAC and his brother, Jonathan, is a freshman defensive back at UCLA. He credits a ballet class he took in high school with helping him with his pass catching ability.
