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Extra inspiration propels Vaccaro to new heights

Kenny Vaccaro is drawing high praise from coaches this week for his performance against Oklahoma State, which included nine tackles, an interception and two pass breakups.
When I asked him about his performance, Vaccaro disclosed to me he had some serious inspiration last Saturday.
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It was his father, Ken's, birthday. Kenny's father was at the game Saturday, and Kenny was able to celebrate that day with him. But not in the way you would probably imagine.
Kenny's father passed away from emphysema when Kenny was 16 and a sophomore in high school. His father was Kenny's best friend - the person who introduced him to football and shared a love of the Texas Longhorns.
But he was also a lifelong smoker.
To help celebrate his father's life on Saturday, Kenny's mother, Alesia, who works several jobs to help pay the rent for Kenny's younger brother and twin sisters, brought the urn with Ken Vaccaro's ashes in it to the game.
(Kenny's younger brother is a corner at Brownwood who is getting recruited pretty heavily.)
"My dad and I were real close," said Kenny Vaccaro, who is playing the nickel, now that Aaron Williams has moved out to corner, replacing Chykie Brown (broken forearm). "The Oklahoma State game was my dad's birthday.
"And she brought my dad because he's cremated and she brought the urn with his ashes. I just knew it was going to be a special day and I was going to play well. I ended up having a pretty good game. I was real close to him."
Kenny said when his father died, he sought refuge in football to get away from all the adversity that seemed to follow him around.
"My family doesn't have that much money. I was getting moved school to school," Vaccaro said. "I tore my ACL my senior year. I never really had a mentor around. I just had football. That was my comfort zone. That was my home."
Kenny said it was his mother who pushed him to train well in sports while his father was the one who always bought his equipment and drove him to practices.
"He took me to all my practices," Kenny said. "My mom did the training side, and my dad did the execution. My mom and dad sort of switched roles because my mom is kind of like a general.
"My mom trained me in sports and academics ever since I was little. I used to do track. I've been running since I was four. She put me through AAU and nationals in track.
"I got burned out on that. She knew I had something special that might help the family. She kept pushing me. She kept me going, kept my grades right. She wanted me to not only be an athlete but a smart young man."
Vaccaro said there might have been some anger from losing his father that was carried over to the football field. Vaccaro used to simply light people up as a hard-hitting safety at Brownwood.
In fact, in his first game as a starter his sophomore year at Brownwood, he knocked a receiver out of the game with a concussion that included breaking a piece off the receiver's helmet.
"My coach at Brownwood (Steve Freeman) kept it for recruiting," Vaccaro said. "When coaches would come in and ask if this guy can be physical, he showed them the piece of cracked helmet."
Will Muschamp said Kenny Vaccaro is developing into a great player because he has spent more time in film study and becoming a better student of the game.
"Kenny has put in the work and has realized it takes more than physical ability to be a great player," Muschamp said. "When you get up against some of these receivers, he's realized it helps to use your grey matter upstairs."
Vaccaro said he knew his work off the field was paying off in training camp.
"I've always been like an angrier person. Just little things like during two-a-days or in games this year, instead of doing stupid things that can cost the team penalties, I bought into the mental side," Vaccaro said.
"What really struck me that I knew I had matured as far as the game of football, I don't think I play busted one time during two-a-days. I had been working hard on the mental side of the game, and that comes with maturity. I knew if I kept this going, I could have a great season."
Vaccaro also draws a lot of inspiration from Earl Thomas, who was selected No. 14 overall in the 2010 NFL Draft by the Seattle Seahawks after picking off nine passes last season.
"I first got here and moved into Jester Dorms and Earl lived right across from me," Vaccaro said. "It seemed like we were up there playing dominoes, and then I blink and he's in Seattle as a first-round draft pick.
"Coach (Muschamp) constantly tells us how hard Earl played and how hard he worked, and I just try to pattern my game after him. He was just a good role model for me because he loved football, and I love football too. I'm just trying to mimic my game around him. Hopefully, I can do half of what he did."
Vaccaro said he's preparing to take more of a leadership role on this team.
"I feel like a lot of teams have a seniority rule, and I'm a younger guy," Vaccaro said. "This year, I've tried to show my leadership based on how I play. Coach (Duane) Akina said the passion I play the game with influences the people around me. I'm kind of doing it this year without speaking, and next year when I move into an older role, then I can be more vocal in my leadership skills."
Vaccaro said the team hasn't stopped working and is determined to win its final two games to reach a bowl game.
"When we step on the field, we know we're more talented than the team across from us, and there's no excuse for us to lose games when potentially we have better players at every position than they do," Vaccaro said.
"There's no reason for us to lose games. We just know it's got to be execution and it's got to be a mental thing because physically we're going to dominate teams. You see every year, we dominate the recruiting process, and we just need to get it done."
Vaccaro said his dad would be proud that he chose the University of Texas over Florida and LSU.
"I'd always been a Texas fan, me and my dad," he said. "I knew it was really prestigious to get offered by Texas. I felt like it was an honor for me to come here. And once Texas offered me, I got a lot more offers. That says a lot about Texas that other schools would offer me if Texas offered me.
"I told my Mom, 'I'm from here, and I need to play for my state,'" Kenny said. "They should almost make you play for the state you're born in."
Vaccaro also hopes his father was proud of his performance against Oklahoma State - on his father's birthday.
"In pre-game, I looked up at the sky and said, 'This one's for you,'" Kenny said.
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