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Former Rice football coach Ray Alborn, who also played for the Owls, died on Thursday, the school announced. He was 87.
Alborn coached the Owls from 1978-83. His best season was in 1980 when Rice went 5-6 with wins over LSU, TCU, Texas A&M, Arkansas and Houston. Overall, he was 13-53 on South Main.
Alborn, who played in high school at Houston Lamar, signed to play with Rice in 1957. His junior season, Alborn was a starter at defensive tackle and helped the Owls to the Sugar Bowl. He was a team captain as a senior.
Alborn started his coaching career at junior highs in the Houston area before becoming head coach at Sharpstown in 1969.
He returned to Rice in 1972 as a defensive line coach on Al Conover's staff. He was defensive coordinator for Homer Rice.
After Rice, Alborn coached the defensive tackles for Jack Pardee with the Houston Gamblers of the USFL.
He coached Lamar University from 1986-89 and was 13-30 overall, including 5-5 in 1989 before the school opted to drop football.
Alborn returned to coaching in 1998 at Lamar Consolidated. He led the Mustangs to their first winning season in 18 years in 1999 and a spot in the playoffs.
A visitation will be held from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday in Sugar Land at Settegast-Kopf Co. at 15015 Southwest Freeway.
A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. on Thursday at Sugar Land Methodist Church at 431 Eldridge Road.
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This article originally published at Former Rice football coach and player Ray Alborn dies at age 87.
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/former-rice-football-coach-player-015954956.html
