Pat Dye Patrick Fain Dye ( born November 6 , 1939 ) is a former American football player , coach , and college athletics administrator . He served as the head football coach at East Carolina University ( 1974 – 1979 ) , the University of Wyoming ( 1980 ) , and Auburn University ( 1981 – 1992 ) compiling a career college football record of 153 – 62 – 5 . Dye also served as the athletic director at Auburn from 1981 to 1991 . He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame 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 " 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 Bear Bryant . 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 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 the second 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 . 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 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 . During Dye ' s interview for the head coaching job at Auburn , he was asked by a member of the search committee , " How long will it take you to beat Alabama ? " Dye ' s reply was " 60 minutes . " 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 Jordan for the most in school history . Under Dye ' s leadership , the Tigers won four Southeastern Conference 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 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 quarterback Randy Campbell 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 . Dye ' s autobiography , " In The Arena , " written with John Logue , was published in 1992 . In September 2006 , Dye partnered with publisher Mascot Books to release his first children ' s book , " War Eagle ! " . Post Retirement . In the Fall of 2011 , Coach Dye took part in a weekly segment on the nationally syndicated the " Rick and Bubba Show " . In the segment on Friday mornings , Rick , Bubba and Coach Dye would talk about the upcoming weekends college football games , focusing mainly on the games that will be played in the SEC Conference . An amusing situation occurred in 2008 when a pair of pants belonging to Dye were plucked from Lake Martin . A resident spotted the green - and - blue Madras golf pants sticking out of the mud along Lake Martin in the Emerald Shores area near Still Waters with the water down 15 feet below full pool . Inside the pants were Dye ' s wallet , ID , and Credit Cards . Dye , in good humor , laughed about the incident , but had no memory of losing them .