Alva Tabor Jr. (October 16, 1925 – August 2002) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player and coach. He served as the head football coach at

Wiley College Wiley College is a private historically black college in Marshall, Texas. Founded in 1873 by the Methodist Episcopal Church's Bishop Isaac Wiley and certified in 1882 by the Freedman's Aid Society, it is one of the oldest predominantly black col ...

from 1954 to 1955,

Fort Valley State University } Fort Valley State University (FVSU, formerly Fort Valley State College and Fort Valley Normal and Industrial School) is a public land-grant historically black university in Fort Valley, Georgia. It is part of the University System of Georgia and ...

from 1957 to 1959,

Southern University Southern University and A&M College (Southern University, Southern, SUBR or SU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is the largest historically black college or university (HBCU) in Louisiana, a ...

from 1969 to 1971, and

Virginia State University Virginia State University (VSU or Virginia State) is a public historically Black land-grant university in Ettrick, Virginia. Founded on , Virginia State developed as the United States's first fully state-supported four-year institution of high ...

in 1980, compiling a career

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

coaching record of 41–40–4. Tabor was an assistant at Southern from 1962 to 1966. In 1967, he became a scout and assistant coach for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). Tabor was hired in 1972 as an assistant coach in charge of

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

of the (NFL). He was the first African-American hired as a full-time coach for the team.

Head coaching record

College

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tabor, Alva 1925 births 2002 deaths American football fullbacks Cleveland Browns coaches Fort Valley State Wildcats football coaches Nevada Wolf Pack football players New Orleans Saints coaches Southern Jaguars football coaches Texas Southern Tigers football coaches Toronto Argonauts coaches Tuskegee Golden Tigers football players Virginia State Trojans football coaches Wiley Wildcats football coaches African-American coaches of American football African-American coaches of Canadian football African-American players of American football 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American sportspeople