Hall of Fame honors former Auburn assistant coach

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Hall of Fame honors former Auburn assistant coach

By Mark Inabinett | minabinett@al.com

2 minutes

The Pro Football Hall of Fame has recognized a former Auburn assistant coach with an Award of Excellence, a program started this year to honor significant contributors to the game.

Alex Gibbs is one of the five assistant coaches selected for recognition.

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The Pro Football Hall of Fame Awards of Excellence also honored five athletic trainers, five equipment managers and five public-relations personnel.

Gibbs coached for three seasons at Auburn, running the I-formation offense under coach Doug Barfield in 1979 and 1980 before switching to the wishbone in 1981 under coach Pat Dye.

After two seasons at Georgia, Gibbs entered the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons in 1984. He spent 27 seasons as an assistant in the NFL, mainly as an offensive-line coach. In that capacity, he became a noted innovator of the zone-blocking scheme.

The other assistant coaches receiving Awards of Excellence from the Pro Football Hall of Fame included Jimmy Raye, Terry Robiskie, Fritz Shurmur and Ernie Zampese.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.