Eastern Michigan Athletics
Former EMU Football Coach Al Lavan Passes Away
4/24/2018 11:44:00 AM | Football
Lavan posted a 2-1 record as EMU's interim head coach in 2003
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – Alton "Al" Lavan, who served as a member of the Eastern Michigan University football coaching staff from 2002-03, passed away Monday, April 23, at age 71. Lavan began as an assistant coach in 2002 before being named the interim head coach for the final three games of the 2003 season.
Lavan enjoyed a long and distinguished career as a football coach in the NFL and college ranks for a total of 36 years.
A native of Piecre, Fla., Lavan played collegiately at Colorado State University where he earned the Rams' prestigious Nye Award which is given annually to the team's outstanding senior athlete. Lavan was drafted in the eighth round of the 1968 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. He completed his undergraduate degree at CSU in 1970.
He went on to play two seasons with the Eagles and one more with the Atlanta Falcons before suffering a permanent neck injury which forced his early retirement from the NFL.
Lavan began his coaching career as a wide receivers coach at his alma mater, Colorado State, from 1972-73. He then moved on to the University of Louisville (1973-74) and Iowa State University (1974-75) before joining the Atlanta Falcons as an assistant coach from 1975-77. He returned to the college ranks, as an assistant at Georgia Tech (1977-79) and Stanford University (1979-80) before once again heading back to the NFL as an assistant coach for the Dallas Cowboys (1980-89) and the San Francisco 49ers (1989-91).
Lavan served a four-year stint as an assistant coach at the University of Washington (1992-96). His last two coaching stints in the NFL were with the Baltimore Ravens (1996-99) and Kansas City Chiefs (1999-2000). During his NFL stops, Lavan coached some of the top running backs in league history. In his nine years as the running backs coach for the Dallas Cowboys, Lavan helped coach 1,000-yard rushers six times, five by Tony Doesett and one by Herschel Walker. As the running backs coach for the 49ers, Lavan helped Roger Craig produce a 1,000-yard season.
At Eastern Michigan, Lavan helped the Eagles to their most productive two-year span running the football in program history. In 2003, Ime Akpan rushed for 1,221 yards on 267 carries. The following year, Anthony Sherrell set the school record with 1,531 yards on 338 attempts.
Lavan was named the team's interim head coach for the final three games of the 2003 campaign. In those three games, EMU posted a 2-1 mark while setting the single-game rushing attempts record with a pair of 43 carry days by Sherrell against Central Florida, Nov. 8, and Ball State, Nov. 15
Following his tenure at EMU, Lavan was Delaware State University's head football coach for seven seasons, from 2004-10, posting an overall record of 41-37 and a 34-21 mark in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
In 2007, Lavan led the Hornets to a 10-2 overall record and the school's first MEAC championship in 16 years with a perfect 8-0 league mark, the second team in conference history to achieve the feat. The 10 overall wins still stand as a team record.
With the conference title, Delaware State earned a trip to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FBS) playoffs for the first time, matching up against Delaware in the first-ever meeting between the state's two Division I programs.
Delaware State rose as high as 10th in the 2007 Football Championship Subdivision national rankings and finished the season at No. 15 in the Sports Network poll and 16th in the ESPN Coaches poll. The American Sports Wire selected the Hornets as its 2007 Black College National Champions, while DSU was second in the final Sheridan Broadcast Network HBCU poll.
Lavan was selected as the 2007 Pigskin Club of Washington, D.C., Coach-of-the-Year and finished second in the voting for the national top FCS coach award.
He was inducted into the DSU's Athletics Hall-of-Fame in 2013.
Funeral arrangements have yet to be released by Lavan's family.
Lavan enjoyed a long and distinguished career as a football coach in the NFL and college ranks for a total of 36 years.
A native of Piecre, Fla., Lavan played collegiately at Colorado State University where he earned the Rams' prestigious Nye Award which is given annually to the team's outstanding senior athlete. Lavan was drafted in the eighth round of the 1968 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. He completed his undergraduate degree at CSU in 1970.
He went on to play two seasons with the Eagles and one more with the Atlanta Falcons before suffering a permanent neck injury which forced his early retirement from the NFL.
Lavan began his coaching career as a wide receivers coach at his alma mater, Colorado State, from 1972-73. He then moved on to the University of Louisville (1973-74) and Iowa State University (1974-75) before joining the Atlanta Falcons as an assistant coach from 1975-77. He returned to the college ranks, as an assistant at Georgia Tech (1977-79) and Stanford University (1979-80) before once again heading back to the NFL as an assistant coach for the Dallas Cowboys (1980-89) and the San Francisco 49ers (1989-91).
Lavan served a four-year stint as an assistant coach at the University of Washington (1992-96). His last two coaching stints in the NFL were with the Baltimore Ravens (1996-99) and Kansas City Chiefs (1999-2000). During his NFL stops, Lavan coached some of the top running backs in league history. In his nine years as the running backs coach for the Dallas Cowboys, Lavan helped coach 1,000-yard rushers six times, five by Tony Doesett and one by Herschel Walker. As the running backs coach for the 49ers, Lavan helped Roger Craig produce a 1,000-yard season.
At Eastern Michigan, Lavan helped the Eagles to their most productive two-year span running the football in program history. In 2003, Ime Akpan rushed for 1,221 yards on 267 carries. The following year, Anthony Sherrell set the school record with 1,531 yards on 338 attempts.
Lavan was named the team's interim head coach for the final three games of the 2003 campaign. In those three games, EMU posted a 2-1 mark while setting the single-game rushing attempts record with a pair of 43 carry days by Sherrell against Central Florida, Nov. 8, and Ball State, Nov. 15
Following his tenure at EMU, Lavan was Delaware State University's head football coach for seven seasons, from 2004-10, posting an overall record of 41-37 and a 34-21 mark in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
In 2007, Lavan led the Hornets to a 10-2 overall record and the school's first MEAC championship in 16 years with a perfect 8-0 league mark, the second team in conference history to achieve the feat. The 10 overall wins still stand as a team record.
With the conference title, Delaware State earned a trip to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FBS) playoffs for the first time, matching up against Delaware in the first-ever meeting between the state's two Division I programs.
Delaware State rose as high as 10th in the 2007 Football Championship Subdivision national rankings and finished the season at No. 15 in the Sports Network poll and 16th in the ESPN Coaches poll. The American Sports Wire selected the Hornets as its 2007 Black College National Champions, while DSU was second in the final Sheridan Broadcast Network HBCU poll.
Lavan was selected as the 2007 Pigskin Club of Washington, D.C., Coach-of-the-Year and finished second in the voting for the national top FCS coach award.
He was inducted into the DSU's Athletics Hall-of-Fame in 2013.
Funeral arrangements have yet to be released by Lavan's family.
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