Pat Dye encyclopedia topics

Playing career

Dye played high school football at Richmond Academy where he was selected All-American and All-State while leading the team to the 1956 3A state championship serving as team captain. Following this success, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution selected Dye as Georgia's 3A Lineman of the Year for 1956 before being recruited to the University of Georgia. While playing for the Bulldogs under head coach Wally Butts, Dye was a first-team All-SEC lineman and two-time All-American (1959 and 1960). The Atlanta Touchdown Club named him the SEC's Most Valuable Lineman in 1960. Upon graduation from Georgia, Dye played three years of professional football as a linebacker for the Edmonton Eskimos in the Canadian Football League.

Assistant coach

Dye's first coaching job came as an assistant at the University of Alabama in 1965, under Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. Dye served as a defensive assistant at UA through the 1973 season.

East Carolina

Dye moved into his first head coaching job at East Carolina University in 1974. Over six seasons, he achieved a record of 48–18–1. He guided the Pirates to the Southern Conference championship in 1976 and posted at least seven wins in all six seasons in Greenville. In 2006, Dye was inducted into the East Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame. As of 2006, his 72.4% win rate is still the highest of any coach in East Carolina University history.

Wyoming

In 1980, Dye took over as head coach for one season at the University of Wyoming. In the decade prior to his arrival the Cowboys had only one winning season (winning 35% of their games), but in Dye's first year he changed the culture into a winning program going 6–5 and paving the way for future success under coaches Al Kincaid (Dye's offensive coordinator) and Dennis Erickson.

Auburn

At Auburn, Dye achieved a record of 99–39–4 (71.1% win rate) over twelve seasons. His 99 wins are behind only Mike Donahue and Ralph "Shug" Jordan for the most in school history. Under Dye's leadership, the Tigers won four Southeastern Conference Championships (1983, 1987-89) and Dye became only the fourth coach in SEC history to win three straight (1987-1989). He received SEC Coach of the Year honors in 1983, 1987, and 1988. Dye was also Auburn's athletic director from 1981 to 1991.

Dye coached 1985 Heisman Trophy winner Vincent "Bo" Jackson from 1982-1985, as well as Tracy Rocker (1985-88), winner of both the Outland Trophy and the Lombardi Award in 1988. The 1983 team, led by Jackson and a stifling defense, is generally considered Dye's best squad. That team recorded an 11-1 record against one of the toughest schedules in SEC history, including seven wins over bowl teams. Auburn was ranked #1 in the nation by the New York Times at the end of the 1983 season.

Dye's tenure on the plains ended when Auburn was penalized for payments by boosters and assistant coaches to a player, Eric Ramsey. Tape recordings were released that implicated a booster named "Corky" Frost, and present Troy University head coach Larry Blakeney. The controversy landed the Auburn program a spot on 60 Minutes and an eventual NCAA investigation. While the investigation did not find Dye personally responsible for rules violations, the NCAA determined that as head coach and athletic director, Dye should have known about and stopped the payments to Ramsey. The fallout from the NCAA probation against the football team pushed Dye out as athletic director in 1991 and as head coach the following year.

On November 19, 2005, the playing surface at Jordan-Hare Stadium at Auburn was named Pat Dye Field in the former coach's honor. The dedication ceremony was held immediately before the Iron Bowl, which Auburn went on to win 28-18. This was especially appropriate since Dye led the Tigers to a 30-20 victory over the Tide on December 2, 1989 in the first installment of the Iron Bowl to be played at Auburn after 41 consecutive meetings at Legion Field in Birmingham. The permanent move of Auburn's home games against Alabama to Jordan-Hare Stadium is considered one of Dye's most important achievements as AU's athletic director. Dye's tenure was also notable for the November 27, 1982 victory over arch-rival Alabama, when Dye's team defeated Alabama 23-22 in Bryant's last regular-season game. That game snapped a nine-game Tide winning streak and returned Auburn to competitive status in the rivalry (AU's record in the Iron Bowl since 1982 is 16-10).