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Mississippi’s Greatest Athletes: McComb’s Warner Alford
McComb native Warner Alford left his imprint on Ole Miss as a football player and a sports administrator. Born in 1938, Alford became a three-sport star at McComb High, where he was All Big Eight in basketball and also competed in track and field as well as football. At Ole Miss, he played left guard on three of the greatest teams in Rebel history (1958-60).
He and fellow Hall of Famer Jake Gibbs were co-captains of the 1960 SEC Championship team that finished 10-0-1, and was named national champion by the Football Writers Association of America. Ole Miss was 29- 3-1 during the three seasons Alford lettered. Alford coached at Laurel, Davidson College and Georgia Tech before returning to Ole Miss to coach the defensive line.
He was named the Ole Miss athletic director in 1978 and served in that capacity for 16 years of tremendous growth for the university’s sports programs. At Ole Miss, Alford hired Mississippi Sports Hall of Famers Billy Chadwick, Van Chancellor and Langston Rogers.
Courtesy of Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum director Rick Cleveland, author of Mississippi’s Greatest Athletes. Cleveland can be reached at rcleveland@msfame.com.