Patrick Fain Dye was born in Blythe, Georgia, and attended Richmond Academy in Augusta, Georgia. Dye played on the offensive line and was named team captain. He would be selected as an All-State and All-American player during his high school career.

Dye would follow his older brothers to the University of Georgia, where he would continue to be a lineman while also playing linebacker. He would be named first-team All-SEC and two-time All-American, earn the SEC Lineman of the Year award in 1960, and many other accolades during his time at Georgia.

After graduating in 1960, Dye would spend two years playing in the Canadian Football League with the Edmonton Eskimos. He would serve in the Army in 1963 and 1964 at Fort Benning in Georgia, where he would play for the “Doughboys” football team on base.

Dye would get his first coaching job as a linebackers coach under Bear Bryant at Alabama. He would spend nine seasons in Tuscaloosa before being named the head coach at East Carolina in 1974. Dye would lead the Pirates to a Southern Conference title in 1976 while winning at least seven games in all six seasons with the program.

In 1980, Dye joined the Wyoming Cowboys program for what would be a one-year term. Dye brought the program only it’s second winning season in the previous decade, finishing 6-5. But that season helped lay the groundwork for the team’s future success. Dye indicated years later that there was no contract signed between him and Wyoming, which made it easy to move on when Auburn came calling in 1981.

Auburn fired Doug Barfield following the 1980 season. The Tigers had their eyes set on Vince Dooley, a former Auburn standout on the football team. Dooley was already comfortable as head coach at Georgia and declined his alma mater’s offer. Dye, a Georgia graduate himself, had his eyes set on returning home to Athens as the coach one day. But when Dooley stayed put, Dye turned to Auburn.

After Dye interviewed with Auburn, the Wyoming leadership gave an ultimatum to stay or to leave and go to Auburn. Dye would resign from Wyoming without having the Auburn job locked up.

Dye immediately turned things around at Auburn. In 1982, his second year as coach, Dye and the Tigers beat Alabama for the first time in a decade. The program also made its first bowl game appearance since 1975 that season, facing Doug Flutie and the Boston College Eagles.

Dye oversaw a lot of success and changes at Auburn. The Tigers won four SEC titles under his leadership and saw Bo Jackson take home the 1985 Heisman Trophy. Auburn’s Jordan-HAre Stadium was expanded under Dye to seat over 85,000 fans.

Perhaps Dye’s biggest impact at Auburn came in 1989, as the Tigers would host Alabama on campus for the first time ever. After decades of annual meetings at Legion Field, the Iron Bowl finally made its way to the Plains. Auburn wouldn’t pass up the opportunity and defeated the undefeated, #2-ranked Tide 30-20.

Dye was hospitalized in May 2020 due to kidney-related problems. He would die on June 1, 2020, at an Auburn hospice facility.