Pat Dye
Patrick Fain Dye (born November 6, 1939, in Blythe, Georgia) was an American college football coach most notable for his tenure as the head coach at Auburn University from 1981 until 1992. With a career record of 153-62-5 over nineteen seasons as a head coach, Dye was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2005.
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Biography
A native of Blythe, Georgia, a small town just outside Augusta, Dye attended the University of Georgia where he earned lettermen (1958, 1959, 1960) and All-American honors playing under head coach Wally Butts. His two brothers, Wayne (1954-56) and Nat (1956-58), preceded him as players at UGA.
Dye's first coaching job came as an assistant at the University of Alabama in 1965 under head coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. After nine years as an assistant at Alabama, Dye moved into his first head coaching job at East Carolina University in 1974. Over six seasons, he would achieve a record of 48-18. As of 2005, his winning percentage is still the highest of any coach in ECU history.
Dye would spend one season (1980) at the University of Wyoming before taking the reigns for a struggling program at Auburn in 1981. At Auburn, Dye would enjoy his greatest success achieving a record of 99-39-4 over twelve seasons. While under the leadership of Dye, Auburn would win four Southeastern Conference Championships including becoming the 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.
He was also the athletic director from 1981 to 1992, but he was replaced as AD in 1992 by Mike Lude before he resigned as head football coach. Dye resigned after consecutive disappointing seasons in 1991 and 1992 and under the taint of allegations of NCAA violations involving improper player benefits.
See also
References
- Barnhart, Tony (May 19, 2005). Dye named to College Football Hall of Fame The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Auburn University Pat Dye To Enter College Football Hall Of Fame Retrieved May 28, 2005.