AUBURN | When Pat Dye was hired as Auburn’s athletic director and football coach in January of 1981, he inherited a program that hadn’t beaten Alabama for eight consecutive seasons, hadn’t won an SEC Championship in nearly 25 years, had an average of attendance of 61,760 for six home games the previous season and had to play the Iron Bowl in Birmingham every year.

Twelve seasons later, Dye had amassed four SEC Championships, brought parity to the Alabama rivalry and most importantly, hosted the Tide for the first time ever in Jordan-Hare Stadium, which had been expanded to hold more than 85,000.

“Coach Dye was a mentor and a friend for 46 years,” said former Auburn baseball coach Hal Baird, who also served as interim AD in 2004-05. “I was with him when he coached his first football game at East Carolina and his last game at Auburn. He was a giant of a man and touched hundreds if not thousands of people. Everyone that he touched would say the same thing, that his life was built on a core of values that he taught to his players, coaches and staff. It’s a huge loss. He left an indelible impression on college football, on Auburn and really the entire country.”

Under Dye, Auburn produced its second Heisman Trophy winner in Bo Jackson, its first Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award winners in Tracy Rocker, 21 All-Americans and 71 All-SEC players. Dye won 99 games, SEC Championships in 1983, 87, 88 and 89, and nearly won the national championship in 83. His teams won 10 or more games four times and finished ranked in the top 10 five times including No. 3 in 83.

But Dye’s relationship with his players and many of Auburn’s players for decades after he retired would overshadow that success. Dye remained a visible and influential part of Auburn’s program throughout the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s up until his death on Monday at age 80.

“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. I am one of them. He made a difference in my life,” said former Auburn athletic director David Housel, who served as SID under Dye.

“He came to Auburn at a time when Auburn needed leadership and focus. He provided that leadership and focus and Auburn will be forever better because of him.”

One of those players was Quentin Riggins, who helped Auburn to three consecutive SEC Championships from 1987-89 as an All-American linebacker. Riggins has gone on to a successful career with Alabama Power, served as a sideline reporter for the Auburn Network and is currently a member of the Auburn Board of Trustees.

“I got a chance to talk to Coach about two weeks ago, to hear his voice and tell him I loved him. Hearing him talk was special to me,” Riggins said. “His toughness, his opening press conference when he said how long it was going to take to beat Alabama, Tiger Walk, and winning the fourth quarter...those are just a few of the marks he left on Auburn. Nobody can take that away from him. He left such an incredible, indelible mark. Players and fans of today are benefitting from his contributions to Auburn.”

It was at his opening press conference that Dye was asked how long it would take for Auburn to beat Alabama? He replied, “60 minutes.” The Tide got the best of the Tigers in 1981 but it was Jackson who went over the top a year later to give Auburn a win at Legion Field and break a nine-game losing streak.

The 1989 Iron Bowl, the first ever at Jordan-Hare will be remembered for an electric Tiger Walk with Auburn fans jammed 10 or more deep on both sides of Donahue Drive, a suffocating noise from the stands when the Tide was on offense and a blue haze from the paper shakers filtering through stadium.

Auburn won 30-20 in what would be the pinnacle of Dye’s coaching career. He built the Tigers into a national power and turned Jordan-Hare into one of the best home field advantages in college football.

“He embodied what Auburn is about: hard work, toughness and a blue collar mentality,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “Coach Dye’s impact on Auburn is endless and will stand the test of time. He had a great and deep love for Auburn and he displayed that affinity daily. I’m very appreciative of his support and friendship through the years. It’s a sad day. Coach Dye was a treasure and will be missed. My thoughts and prayers are with his family, his former players and coaches and the entire Auburn family.”

In 2005, the playing surface at Jordan-Hare was named Pat Dye Field and he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. A native of Blyth, Ga., Dye was a two-time All-American at Georgia from 1957-60. He was an assistant coach under Bear Bryant at Alabama from 1965-73, the head coach at East Carolina from 1974-79 and Wyoming in 1980.

Dye is survived by his four children, Pat Jr., Missy, Brett and Wanda, and nine grandchildren and his partner of 18 years, Nancy McDonald.