Pat Dye
Encyclopedia
Patrick Fain Dye is a former American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at East Carolina University
East Carolina University
East Carolina University is a public, coeducational, engaged doctoral/research university located in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. Named East Carolina University by statute and commonly known as ECU or East Carolina, the university is the largest institution of higher learning in...

 (1974–1979), the University of Wyoming
University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming is a land-grant university located in Laramie, Wyoming, situated on Wyoming's high Laramie Plains, at an elevation of 7,200 feet , between the Laramie and Snowy Range mountains. It is known as UW to people close to the university...

 (1980), and Auburn University
Auburn University
Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...

 (1981–1992) compiling a career college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 record of 153–62–5. Dye also served as the athletic director
Athletic director
An athletic director is an administrator at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic programs...

 at Auburn from 1981 to 1991. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...

 as a coach in 2005.

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
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the only major daily newspaper in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, and its suburbs. The AJC, as it is called, is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the result of the merger between The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta...

selected Dye as Georgia's 3A Lineman of the Year for 1956 before being recruited to the University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...

. While playing for the Bulldogs
Georgia Bulldogs football
The Georgia Bulldogs football team represents the University of Georgia in football. The Bulldogs are a member of the Southeastern Conference and are frequently a top-25 team. The University of Georgia has had a football team since 1892 and has an all-time record of 738–398–54...

 under head coach Wally Butts
Wally Butts
James Wallace "Wally" Butts, Jr. was an American football player and coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head coach at the University of Georgia from 1939 to 1960, compiling a record of 140–86–9...

, 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
Linebacker
A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...

 for the Edmonton Eskimos
Edmonton Eskimos
The Edmonton Eskimos are a Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. They currently play in the West Division of the Canadian Football League . Edmonton is currently the third-youngest franchise in the CFL, although there were clubs with the name Edmonton Eskimos as early as 1895...

 in the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....

.

Assistant coach

Dye's first coaching job came as an assistant at the University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....

 in 1965, under Bear Bryant
Bear Bryant
Paul William "Bear" Bryant was an American college football player and coach. He was best known as the longtime head coach of the University of Alabama football team. During his 25-year tenure as Alabama's head coach, he amassed six national championships and thirteen conference championships...

. Dye served as a defensive assistant at Alabama through the 1973 season.

East Carolina

Dye moved into his first head coaching job at East Carolina University
East Carolina University
East Carolina University is a public, coeducational, engaged doctoral/research university located in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. Named East Carolina University by statute and commonly known as ECU or East Carolina, the university is the largest institution of higher learning in...

 in 1974. Over six seasons, he achieved a record of 48–18–1. He guided the Pirates
East Carolina Pirates
The East Carolina Pirates are the intercollegiate sports teams representing East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. All varsity-level sports teams sponsored by the university compete in NCAA Division I as a member of Conference USA...

 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
University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming is a land-grant university located in Laramie, Wyoming, situated on Wyoming's high Laramie Plains, at an elevation of 7,200 feet , between the Laramie and Snowy Range mountains. It is known as UW to people close to the university...

. 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
Al Kincaid
-External links:...

 (Dye's offensive coordinator) and Dennis Erickson
Dennis Erickson
Dennis Erickson is an American football coach and former player. He was the head football coach at Arizona State University until November 28, 2011, a position he had held since the 2007 season. In 2008 the Arizona Board of Regents had approved a contract extension to keep Erickson at Arizona...

. Interestiningly, in an interview many years later, Dye revealed that the athletic administration at Wyoming had failed to get his signature on a contract when they had hired him to coach their football team. Consequently, when Auburn
Auburn Tigers football
Only Mohamed Amin Abughadir set the record with 1,890 yards in 1 season. He was the QB for Auburn in 1998.The Auburn Tigers football team represents Auburn University in college football as a member of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, competing in the Western Division of the...

 hired Dye to be their new coach, the University of Wyoming had no recourse to demand compensation for Auburn hiring away their one-year coach.

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
Mike Donahue
Michael Joseph "Iron Mike" Donahue was an American football player, coach of football, basketball, baseball, tennis, track, soccer, and golf, and a college athletics administrator...

 and Ralph Jordan
Ralph Jordan
James Ralph "Shug" Jordan was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach of football and basketball. He served as the head football coach at Auburn from 1951 to 1975, where he compiled a record of 176–83–6. He is the winningest coach in Auburn Tigers football...

 for the most in school history. Under Dye's leadership, the Tigers
Auburn Tigers football
Only Mohamed Amin Abughadir set the record with 1,890 yards in 1 season. He was the QB for Auburn in 1998.The Auburn Tigers football team represents Auburn University in college football as a member of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, competing in the Western Division of the...

 won four Southeastern Conference
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...

 championships (1983, 1987–1989) 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
Athletic director
An athletic director is an administrator at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic programs...

 from 1981 to 1991.

Dye coached 1985 Heisman Trophy
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...

 winner Vincent "Bo" Jackson
Bo Jackson
Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson is a former American baseball and football player. He was the first athlete to be named an All-Star in two major American sports, and also won the Heisman Trophy in 1985....

 from 1982–1985, as well as Tracy Rocker (1985–88), winner of both the Outland Trophy
Outland Trophy
The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best United States college football interior lineman by the Football Writers Association of America. It is named after John H. Outland. One of only a few players ever to be named All-America at two positions, Outland garnered consensus All-America honors in...

 and the Lombardi Award
Lombardi Award
The Rotary Lombardi Award is awarded annually to the best college football lineman or linebacker. The Lombardi Award program was approved by the Rotary Club in Houston in 1970 shortly after the death of Vince Lombardi. The committee outlined the criteria for eligibility for the award, which...

 in 1988. The 1983 team, led by quarterback Randy Campbell
Randy Campbell
Thomas Randolph "Randy" Campbell is an American football quarterback who played for Auburn University, a NCAA Division 1-A school; is a speaker and wealth management and life insurance professional....

 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
Eric Ramsey
Eric Ramsey was a defensive back for Auburn University's football team in the early 1990s who used a tape recorder to secretly record conversations between his football coaches and Booster "Corky" Frost regarding an illicit player payment scheme...

. Tape recordings were released that implicated a booster named "Corky" Frost, and present Troy University
Troy University
Troy University is a public university that is located in Troy, Alabama, United States. It was originally founded in 1887 as Troy Normal School. Its main campus enrollment is 7,194 students. The total enrollment of all Troy University campuses is 29,689...

 head coach Larry Blakeney
Larry Blakeney
Larry Blakeney is the football head coach of the Troy Trojans at Troy University. He is currently in his 20th season as Troy's head football coach...

. The controversy landed the Auburn program a spot on 60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....

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
Iron Bowl
The Iron Bowl is an American college football rivalry game played annually by the Alabama Crimson Tide football team of the University of Alabama and the Auburn Tigers football team of Auburn University. The series is considered one of the best and most hard-fought rivalries in all of sports...

, 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
Legion Field
Legion Field is a large stadium in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, primarily designed to be used as a venue for American football, but is occasionally used for other large outdoor events. The stadium is named in honor of the American Legion, a U.S. organization of military veterans. At its peak...

 in Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...

. 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.

Dye's autobiography, In The Arena, written with John Logue, was published in 1992. In September 2006, Dye partnered with publisher Mascot Books
Mascot Books
Mascot Books is the largest publisher of licensed children’s sports books in America. Based in Herndon, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C., Mascot Books creates children’s books for professional teams, colleges, and even elementary schools...

 to release his first children's book, War Eagle!.

Head coaching record

Additional sources



External links

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