College Football Hall of Fame coach and UGA All-American Pat Dye has died. He was 80.
According to Lee County, Ala. coroner Bill Harris, the former legendary Auburn head coach died from complications of renal and hepatic failure at the Compassus Bethany House in Auburn.
"On behalf of our family, I want to thank all of the people from around the country who have offered their support and admiration for Dad these past several days," Pat Dye Jr. said. "Dad would be honored and humbled to know about this overwhelming outreach. The world has lost a pretty good football coach and a great man. He was beloved, he touched so many lives and he will be missed by many, especially our family."
Dye had also been recently diagnosed with COVID-19 while hospitalized in Atlanta with the kidney issues.
"Coach Dye was much more than a hall of fame coach and administrator at Auburn," Auburn football coach Gus Malzahn said. "He was an Auburn leader and visionary. He not only returned the football program back to national prominence during his tenure but was a key figure in bringing the Iron Bowl to Auburn and made an impact on the university and in the community. He embodied what Auburn is about: hard work, toughness and a blue-collar mentality.
After a successful college football career at UGA, Dye went on to coach at East Carolina, University of Wyoming and ended his career at Auburn.
In his 12 seasons as head coach at Auburn, Dye led the Tigers to a 99-39-4 record -- third-most -- and won four Southeastern Conference Championships in 1983, '87, '88 and '89. Auburn won 10 or more games four times, finished in the top 10 nationally five times, and won six bowl games.
Dye was instrumental in bringing the Iron Bowl to Auburn for the first time in 1989, a game which the Tigers won, 30-20, and is considered one of the most important events in the history of the program.
He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2005.
A native of Blythe, Ga., Dye was born on Nov. 6, 1939, in Augusta. He played high school football at Richmond Academy in Augusta where he was an all-state and All-American offensive lineman.
He played collegiately at the University of Georgia from 1957-60 where he was a two-time All-American and All-SEC performer in 1959-60. Dye was a two-way starter as a senior at offensive lineman and linebacker and won SEC Lineman of the Year that season.
Dye is survived by his four children, Pat Jr., Missy, Brett and Wanda, and nine grandchildren and his partner of 18 years, Nancy McDonald.
A memorial to honor Coach Dye will be held at a later date. Details will be announced once they have been confirmed.
"People will talk about all of the games coach dye won, all of those champions and bowl games, but his greatest contribution, his legacy, is the difference he made in the lives of his players and the people who worked for him," Auburn Athletics Director David Housel said. "I am one of them. He made a difference in my life."
