The stadium, the field, the expectations, the locker rooms, Bo… the man was a living legend. But in a certain sense, even in death, Pat Dye is still actively helping Auburn grow.
On Tuesday, just one day after his death, clothed in a white shroud, the Auburn icon was buried beneath a now 15-foot cutting from one of the original Toomer’s Corner oak trees as the sun set over his Notasulga farm. There was no casket.
“I want to fertilize this tree and for my spirit to hover around this tree,” Dye told Auburn booster and close friend and former commercial colleague Jimmy Rane, according to the Athens Banner-Herald.
Rane was one of the few non-family attendees at the funeral. The others were former Dye coaching assistants Joe Whitt Sr. and Rodney Garner, who also played for Dye, and a Heisman Trophy winner named Bo Jackson.
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Coach Dye will be remembered by Auburn fans and Alabama fans for a long, long time. He ended an almost ten-year run of Alabama beating Auburn, and he brought back hope to the Auburn faithful. The man rebuilt Auburn Football forever. Auburn has never left the national scene since Dye brought it back to prominence.
You will never be forgotten Coach Dye.
As a Alabama fan Coach Dye will, and should be, remembered as a great coach and a even better man more than what happened in the Iron Bowl. Football is a religion in the state, but he meant more than that. I love Bama & of course want them to win, but Coach Dye was a class act that ALL of the state of Alabama should respect.
As a 52 yr old Bamafan that played a little high school ball.. Paul Bear Bryant and Pay Dye is the essence of my youth and football . Playing under another great Tom Calvin. Coach Dye will always be cherished.. even as much as my Auburn Fan Friends (Lee B ) drive me crazy.
Coach Dye was a staple in the Iron Bowl rivalry when I was growing up. I always looked forward to watching him say something and cough on his show after a loss. 😁 RIP Coach