[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 78 (Friday, May 10, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E575]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





     RECOGNIZING COACH PATRICK FAIN DYE FOR HIS SERVICE TO ALABAMA

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BRADLEY BYRNE

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 10, 2019

  Mr. BYRNE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Coach Patrick 
Fain Dye for his long, successful career representing our state.
  As head coach of the Auburn University football team from 1981 to 
1992, Coach Dye elevated the program to new heights, compiling a record 
of 99-39-4 and winning Southeastern Conference championships in 1983, 
1987, 1988, and 1989. He received Southeastern Conference Coach of the 
Year honors in 1983, 1987, and 1998. Coach Dye's 1983 Auburn Tigers 
team, one of the state's greatest in our proud football history, ended 
the season ranked No. 1 by the New York Times after winning its final 
ten games.
  Coach Dye also served as Auburn's Athletics Director from 1981 to 
1991, a tenure marked by the successful relocation in 1989 of the 
annual Iron Bowl to Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium from Legion Field in 
Birmingham. That monumental Iron Bowl, the first played in Auburn in 
decades, was a 28-18 victory for the Tigers. It was appropriate that in 
2005 the field at Jordan-Hare Stadium was renamed Pat Dye Field in his 
honor.
  During Coach Dye's head coaching career, which included early stints 
at East Carolina University and the University of Wyoming, he compiled 
an overall record of 153-62-5 and a bowl record of 7-2-1. For his 
accomplishments, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame 
in 2005.
  When interviewing for the head coach position at Auburn, Coach Dye 
was asked how long it would take him to beat the University of Alabama, 
where he had previously served as an assistant coach under the 
legendary Paul ``Bear'' Bryant. His response of ``60 minutes'' was 
representative of the confidence and grit that endeared him to his 
players and the Auburn family. His promise came true in his second 
season, ending a nine-year Alabama win streak.
  The Auburn family's love for Coach Dye continues to this day. He was 
a father figure to so many of his players over the years, and his 
legacy has continued to grow through the years with his work in the 
Auburn community and his philanthropic activities. To this day Coach 
Dye remains close with so many of his players and is a beloved figure 
in the state of Alabama and beyond.
  I thank Coach Dye for his distinguished years of service to Auburn 
University and the people of Alabama. War Eagle.

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