Ray Alborn

Gus Raymond Alborn Jr. was born on 24 December 1938 in Orange, Texas, and grew up in a single-parent household with his mother, Jewel Locke Alborn. He attended Lamar High School in Houston, where he earned All-City football honors from the Houston Chronicle and Houston Post as a senior in 1956. He stayed in Houston for college, accepting a scholarship to Rice University and playing defensive tackle for the Owls from the late 1950s into the early 1960s. In his junior year Rice reached the Sugar Bowl, falling 14-6 to second-ranked Ole Miss. As a senior and team captain he helped the Owls make a second straight bowl trip, facing Kansas in the Bluebonnet Bowl. Those seasons cemented a lifelong bond with Rice and with football.

After graduation Alborn taught and coached at the junior high level in Houston, then became the first head coach at Sharpstown High School in 1969, leading the Apollos to an 8-1-1 record in his second season. He returned to Rice in 1972 as defensive line coach under Al Conover and later worked as defensive coordinator for Homer Rice. Named head coach in 1978, he was the first former Rice player to hold the post. His six seasons produced a 13-53 record, highlighted by 1980's 5-6 campaign with wins over LSU, TCU, Texas A&M, Arkansas and Houston. After his dismissal he coached defensive tackles for the Houston Gamblers of the USFL (1984-1985). In 1986 he became head coach at Lamar University, compiling the rest of a 26-83 college record before Lamar discontinued football after 1989. He later coached at Bellaire, B.F. Terry and Lamar Consolidated High School, where he earned a playoff berth and the school's first winning season in 18 years, retiring from coaching in 2002.

At Rice, Alborn met Carol Sue Shepherd, a cheerleader; they married and shared nearly 64 years together. They had a daughter, Shannon Bohny, and a son, Matthew Alborn, and later welcomed grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Family accounts describe him as a devoted husband and father whose humor and warmth filled gatherings. Having grown up with limited means, he told parents that college athletics could open doors to education. After coaching he and Sue retired to Ruidoso, New Mexico, in 2004. On 2 March 2010 he was elected mayor of Ruidoso and served through 2014.

Ray Alborn died on 4 November 2026 in Houston at the age of 87. Rice University Athletics announced his death and published a remembrance on 6 November. The cause of death was not made public. Visitation was scheduled for 11 November 2026 at Settegast-Kopf Co. at Sugar Creek in Sugar Land, Texas, with a memorial service on 12 November at Sugar Land Methodist Church.

Alborn is remembered as the first Rice alumnus to coach the Owls and as a recruiter who sold education alongside football. His 1980 Bayou Bucket win and SWC road victories remain markers of a hard era on South Main. Colleagues and players recalled mentorship that outlasted win-loss columns. Rice Athletics' tribute framed him as a link between the bowl teams of his playing days and later Owl generations. His mayoral service in Ruidoso and decades of Texas high school coaching extended that influence beyond the college game.