Born in Olney, Texas, Vaught graduated as valedictorian from Polytechnic High School in Fort Worth, Texas and attended Texas Christian University, where he was an honor student and was named All-American. Vaught served as a line coach at the University of North Carolina under head coach Raymond Wolf from 1936 until 1941. In 1942, Vaught served as an assistant coach with the North Carolina Pre-Flight School. After serving in World War II as a lieutenant commander in the United States Navy, he took a job as an assistant coach at Ole Miss in 1946, and was named head coach a year later. After winning the university's first conference title in his initial season in 1947, he led the Rebels to additional Southeastern Conference titles in 1954, 1955, 1960, 1962, and 1963.