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Jaguar Nation
Former Jaguars coach Tabor remembered by SU faithful
By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN
jschiefelbein@theadvocate.com
Advocate sportswriter
As Southern University begins a new football season this week, the Jaguars faithful will remember one of its former head coaches, Alva Tabor, who died last week in Fort Valley, Ga.
Tabor died last Tuesday, with funeral services Saturday.
Tabor went 14-14-2 as a head coach at Southern between 1969-72. His best season was his first, at 6-2-1 in 1969.
Former Jaguars greats like NFL Hall of Famer Mel Blount, a cornerback; wide receiver Harold Carmichael and cornerback Ken Ellis all finished their careers under Tabor.
"He was always a nice guy, a nice person," Southern director of sports medicine Carl Williams said. "Alva had a gentleman approach to things. That's one of the things I liked best about him."
Williams said Tabor, as an assistant, and then head football coach Robert Lee, came to Houston and convinced Williams to take the job he's had since August 1963 at Southern.
"If you ever met Alva, he'd never forget you," Williams said. "He remembered faces and names better than anyone I've ever known.
"He's a guy who's just been everywhere, just knew a million people. Everybody always welcomed him with open arms."
Williams said Tabor worked at a variety of historically black universities, including Wiley College, Texas Southern, Tuskegee and Fort Valley State. He also served as a scout for the Cleveland Browns and New Orleans Saints and, an avid tennis player, worked for the Arthur Ashe Tennis Foundation.
"He was very charismatic, energetic and well liked," Ellis said. "He'd been around, coached a lot of football on the college and the high school level and been involved in the pros. He knew a lot of people and had a lot of contacts."
As a quarterbacks coach before being promoted to head coach, Tabor coached quarterback Bob Bennett.
"He was quite a character," Bennett said. "He was very emotional. He would cry before every game. Just cry."
By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN
jschiefelbein@theadvocate.com
Advocate sportswriter
As Southern University begins a new football season this week, the Jaguars faithful will remember one of its former head coaches, Alva Tabor, who died last week in Fort Valley, Ga.
Tabor died last Tuesday, with funeral services Saturday.
Tabor went 14-14-2 as a head coach at Southern between 1969-72. His best season was his first, at 6-2-1 in 1969.
Former Jaguars greats like NFL Hall of Famer Mel Blount, a cornerback; wide receiver Harold Carmichael and cornerback Ken Ellis all finished their careers under Tabor.
"He was always a nice guy, a nice person," Southern director of sports medicine Carl Williams said. "Alva had a gentleman approach to things. That's one of the things I liked best about him."
Williams said Tabor, as an assistant, and then head football coach Robert Lee, came to Houston and convinced Williams to take the job he's had since August 1963 at Southern.
"If you ever met Alva, he'd never forget you," Williams said. "He remembered faces and names better than anyone I've ever known.
"He's a guy who's just been everywhere, just knew a million people. Everybody always welcomed him with open arms."
Williams said Tabor worked at a variety of historically black universities, including Wiley College, Texas Southern, Tuskegee and Fort Valley State. He also served as a scout for the Cleveland Browns and New Orleans Saints and, an avid tennis player, worked for the Arthur Ashe Tennis Foundation.
"He was very charismatic, energetic and well liked," Ellis said. "He'd been around, coached a lot of football on the college and the high school level and been involved in the pros. He knew a lot of people and had a lot of contacts."
As a quarterbacks coach before being promoted to head coach, Tabor coached quarterback Bob Bennett.
"He was quite a character," Bennett said. "He was very emotional. He would cry before every game. Just cry."