Legendary former Auburn head coach Pat Dye passed away Monday morning. He was 80-years old.
Dye passed away from “complications of renal and hepatic failure” at the Compassus Bethany House in Auburn, according to Lee County coroner Bill Harris. Dye had recently tested positive for COVID-19 while hospitalized in Atlanta with kidney issues. His son, Pat Dye Jr., told ESPN that his father was asymptomatic.
“People will talk about all of the games Coach Dye won, all the championships and bowl games, but his greatest contribution is the difference he made in the lives of his players and the people who worked for him,” former Auburn athletics director David Housel told AL.com. "I am one of them. He made a difference in my life.
“He came to Auburn at a time when Auburn needed leadership and focus. He provided that leadership and focus, and Auburn will be forever because of him.”
247Sports first reported news of Dye’s death on Monday.
Dye has the third-most wins in Auburn football history after going 99-39-4 during 12 seasons (1981-1992). The beloved former coach recruited Bo Jackson to the Plains and won four SEC championships during his tenure at Auburn. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2005.
He was named SEC Coach of the Year three times (1983, 1987 and 1988) with the first coming during Auburn’s 11-1 season that included a share of the national championship after defeating Michigan in the Sugar Bowl. Auburn finished third in the Associated Press and Coaches polls though The New York Times awarded it a national championship.
GOODMAN: Pat Dye was symbol of SEC toughness
He famously helped move the Iron Bowl from Legion Field to Jordan-Hare Stadium in 1989 after the game had been played annually in Birmingham since 1948. It was immediately a priority for Dye after he was named head coach in 1981.
“When I saw Coach Bryant when I first got to Auburn, the first thing he said to me, very first thing, he said, ‘Well, I guess you’re going to want to take that game to Auburn,’” Dye told AL.com’s Creg Stephenson last year. “I said, ‘We’re going to take it to Auburn.’
“He said, ‘Well, we’ve got a contract through (19)88. … I said, ‘Well, we’ll play ’89 in Auburn.’”
Auburn won that first Iron Bowl at home, 30-20, ruining No. 2 Alabama’s chances of a perfect season. Dye finished his Auburn career with a 6-6 record against the in-state rival including a 1982 win over Bear Bryant’s last Alabama team that ended a 9-year winning streak for the Crimson Tide.
Auburn named its field Pat Dye Field at Jordan-Hare Stadium in 2005 to honor him.
AL.com’s Tom Green contributed to this report.