Ray Alborn: key obituary facts
Is Ray Alborn dead? Yes. Ray Alborn died on November 4, 2026, at age 87.
Cause of death: Ray Alborn's cause of death has not been publicly confirmed.
What was Ray Alborn known for?
He was an American football player and coach.
More about Ray Alborn
Born: 23 December 1938.
Gender: male.
Occupation: politician, American football player.
Nationality: United States.
Education: Rice University.
Also known as: Gus Raymond Alborn.
Ray Alborn, an American football coach who led Rice and Lamar, died November 4, 2026, aged 87.
Born Gus Raymond Alborn on December 23, 1938, he attended Rice University, his alma mater, and later returned to lead its football program. Alborn was Rice’s head coach from 1978 through 1983, compiling a 13-53 record there.
After the 1983 season, the university dismissed him; he then joined the Houston Gamblers of the United States Football League as defensive line coach. In 1986 he took over as head coach at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, where he remained through 1989. Lamar released him from his contract in 1990 after deciding to discontinue its football program. Across his head-coaching tenures at Rice and Lamar, Alborn compiled a 26-83 college football record. His career also included public service: on March 2, 2010, he was elected mayor of Ruidoso, New Mexico. In addition to his coaching work, Alborn was an American football player. His career thus spanned college football and municipal government, with Rice marking both his education and the first of his two head-coaching appointments.