Legendary Auburn football coach Pat Dye dies at 80

Legendary Auburn football coach Pat Dye, one of the winningest coaches in school history, died on Monday.

Dye, 80, passed away while in hospice care due to kidney and liver failure, Lee County coroner Bill Harris confirmed to CNN.

Dye had been hospitalized due to kidney-related issues, and while undergoing treatment, he was diagnosed with coronavirus, according to CNN affiliate WVTM. However, he was asymptomatic.

“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,” Dye’s son, Pat Dye, Jr., said in statement.

“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.”

Born November 6, 1939 in Blythe, Ga., Dye would go on to play for the Georgia Bulldogs as a lineman.

“I never played with a greater football player than Pat Dye,” said former Georgia teammate and fellow Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton. “He was the ultimate teammate, and I loved the guy.”

After his playing days were done, he began his career as a coach in 1965 at Alabama. After stints at East Carolina and Wyoming, he would go on to become the head coach at Auburn.

Dye coached the Tigers from 1981 to 1992 and served as the school’s athletic director from 1981 to 1991. Auburn had a 99-39-4 record during his 12 seasons with the team, and the Tigers won six bowl games under his watch.

He is tied for the second-most wins in school history.

Dye won national coach of the year in 1983, and he was a three-time SEC coach of the year.

Considered to be the greatest football coach in school history, the playing field at Auburn’s Jordan-Hare stadium was named in his honor in 2005. Dye was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2005.