Chris Tabor (born March 4, 1971) is 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 ...

coach who is the

special teams coordinator 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

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

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). He previously served as an assistant coach for the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

from 2018 to 2021 and 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 ( ...

from 2011 to 2017 and has more than 20 years of coaching experience between the high school, collegiate and professional levels.

Early life and education

Tabor earned a degree in physical education in 1993 at

Benedictine College Benedictine College is a private Benedictine liberal arts college in Atchison, Kansas, United States. It was established in 1971 by the merger of St. Benedict's College (founded 1858) for men and Mount St. Scholastica College (founded 1923) for ...

Atchison, Kansas Atchison is a city and county seat of Atchison County, Kansas, United States, along the Missouri River. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 10,885. The city is named in honor of US Senator David Rice Atchison from Missouri an ...

, where he was a three-year starter at

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the

Benedictine Ravens The Benedictine College Ravens are the athletic teams that represent Benedictine College, located in Atchison, Kansas, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in t ...

. He was an all-conference selection and team MVP in 1992, when the Ravens won the

Heart of America Athletic Conference The Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC or The Heart) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Member institutions are located in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska in ...

(HAAC) championship, and advanced to the NAIA Division II national semifinals. In 2017 Tabor was elected into the Benedictine College Hall of Fame. He earned his master's degree in education in 1999 from Columbia (Mo.) College.

Coaching career

Early career

Tabor started his coaching career in 1993 as an assistant at his alma mater, Benton High School in

St. Joseph, Missouri St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includ ...

. The following year he coached running backs at

Hutchinson Community College Hutchinson Community College (HutchCC or HCC) is a public community college in Hutchinson, Kansas, United States. It serves nearly 5,000 credit students every semester. History The college was established in the spring of 1928 as Hutchinson Ju ...

Hutchinson, Kansas Hutchinson is the largest city and county seat in Reno County, Kansas, United States, and located on the Arkansas River. It has been home to salt mines since 1887, thus its nickname of "Salt City", but locals call it "Hutch". As of the 2020 cen ...

before serving as the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

Central Methodist University Central Methodist University (formerly known as Central Methodist College and also known as Central College or CMU) is a private university in Fayette, Missouri. CMU is accredited to offer masters, bachelors, and associate degrees. The school is ...

from 1995 to 1996.

Missouri

In 1997, Tabor was hired by the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

as a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research respons ...

and he would serve in that role for three years before being promoted to their running backs and special teams coach in 2000. While at Columbia, the Tigers ranked in the nation's top 10 in rushing offense and played in two bowl games.

Culver–Stockton College

In 2001, Tabor was hired as the head football coach at

Culver–Stockton College Culver–Stockton College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Canton, Missouri. It was founded as Christian University in 1853 as the first institution west of the Mississippi River chartered specifically for men and women. As of fa ...

Canton, Missouri Canton is a city in Lewis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 2,774 at the 2020 census. Canton is the home of Culver-Stockton College, a small liberal arts college affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). It al ...

, leading the program to a 6–5 record, the school's first winning season in 15 years. In Tabor's only season there, his team set school records for points scored, touchdowns and total yards, and ranked 17th in the NAIA in total defense and 10th in pass defense.

Utah State

In 2002, Tabor joined

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

as their assistant head coach and wide receivers coach. In 2005, he served as their running backs and special teams coach.

Western Michigan University

Tabor spent two seasons, 2006 and 2007, at

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

as the running backs and special teams coach.

Chicago Bears

Tabor got his first shot in the

(NFL) when he spent three seasons (2008–2010) as assistant special teams coach with the

under coordinator

Dave Toub David Toub (born June 1, 1962) is an American football coach who is the assistant head coach and special teams coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). Playing career College Toub played offensive line at S ...

on head coach

Lovie Smith Lovie Lee Smith (born May 8, 1958) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). From 2004 to 2016, he served as the head coach of the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a ...

's staff. During Tabor's tenure with the Bears, Chicago consistently ranked among the league leaders in numerous departments. The Bears ranked in the top five in no less than nine different special teams categories combined over that three-year period. Chicago led the NFL in total return yards (6,570) and kickoff return yards (5,415), posted the second-best kickoff return average (25.1), ranked third in punt return defense (7.1) and produced the fifth-best punt return average (10.4). The Bears also registered six total kick returns for touchdowns in that time, which tied for second-most in the league.

Cleveland Browns

In 2011, Tabor was hired by the

as their special teams coordinator. During Tabor's tenure in Cleveland, the Browns were the only NFL team to have earned at least one AFC Special Teams Player of the Week award each season from 2011-2016. In total, the Browns won seven AFC Special Teams Player of the Week awards. He also oversaw kicker

Phil Dawson Philip Drury Dawson (born January 23, 1975) is a former American football placekicker. He played for the Cleveland Browns from 1999 to 2012 and holds their franchise record for most field goals made, passing Hall of Famer Lou Groza in 2010. He pl ...

and returner

Joshua Cribbs Joshua Cribbs (born June 9, 1983) is an American former football return specialist and wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Kent State University, and was signed by the Cleveland Browns a ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

when were both were selected to the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

, marking just the second time in team history that two specialists made the annual

all-star game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or div ...

in the same year. Also, during his tenure with the Browns, they lead the NFL in punt return average (11.3 yards), were first in kickoff return average against (19.8) and were tied for sixth in punt return touchdowns (four).

Chicago Bears (second stint)

On January 12, 2018, Tabor was hired by the

as their special teams coordinator under head coach

Matt Nagy Matthew Nagy ( or ; born April 24, 1978) is an American football coach, and former arena football quarterback, who is the senior assistant and quarterbacks coach for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He was the head ...

, reuniting with the team he started his NFL career. On October 25, 2021, Nagy tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. This resulted in Tabor taking over as the interim head coach and making his NFL head coaching debut in the Bears' Week 8 game against the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

on October 31, 2021. The Bears lost 33-22 in Tabor's debut.

Carolina Panthers

On January 27, 2022, Tabor was hired by the

as their special teams coordinator under head coach

Matt Rhule Matthew Kenneth Rhule (born January 31, 1975) is an American football coach and former player, who is the head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. He was previously the head coach at Temple University, Baylor University, and for the Carolina Pant ...

Personal life

Tabor grew up in a football family, his father, Don, coached high school football in

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

for 40 years and all of his brothers (Donnie, Matt and Michael) played football at Benedictine College. Tabor and his wife, Nikki (''nee'' Graves), have two daughters, Paityn and Lainey.

Head coaching record

College

NFL

* ''Interim head coach''

References

External links

Chicago Bears profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tabor, Chris Living people American football quarterbacks Benedictine Ravens football players Central Methodist Eagles football coaches Carolina Panthers coaches Chicago Bears coaches Cleveland Browns coaches Culver–Stockton Wildcats football coaches Hutchinson Blue Dragons football coaches Missouri Tigers football coaches Utah State Aggies football coaches Western Michigan Broncos football coaches High school football coaches in Missouri Sportspeople from St. Joseph, Missouri Coaches of American football from Missouri Players of American football from Missouri 1971 births