AUBURN, Ala. – Sixty minutes.
At his introductory Auburn press conference on Jan. 4, 1981, a reporter asked the 40-year-old coach how long would it take for Auburn to beat rival Alabama. At the time, eight years had passed since the Tigers' most recent Iron Bowl victory.
"Sixty minutes," Dye replied, setting the tone for a decade of excellence that laid the foundation for the Southeastern Conference prominence Auburn enjoys 40 years later.
To honor Coach Dye, who passed away on June 1, 2020 at the age of 80, Auburn will wear helmet stickers with Dye's initials, the words "Sixty Minutes," and a circle of 60 orange and blue segments that each represent one minute on a clock.
At request of Auburn coach Gus Malzahn, Pat Dye Jr. helped design the sticker, which Dye unveiled to Auburn's football team during a preseason camp Zoom meeting.
"I want to expressly thank Coach Malzahn for wanting to honor Dad this fall with a helmet decal," Dye Jr. said. "I thought it was important to incorporate a message that spoke to his legacy and his philosophy, not only about coaching, about football, but about life, but also spoke to this team in an inspirational way as he had done
for 30 years in his hall of fame coaching career."
The oldest of Coach Dye's four children – all Auburn University graduates – told the team the story about his dad's iconic answer during that first media meeting.
"It's going to take 60 minutes of playing great Auburn football with great effort to beat a program like Alabama," said Pat Jr. "That's the way he lived is life, right down to the last 20 years on that farm. Always working. Up at 5 o'clock in the morning. Playing 60 minutes, full tilt, was the way he lived."
Dye Jr. thanked Malzahn and the Tigers' assistant coaches and players for welcoming Coach Dye to practice and meetings.
"He would call me after leaving practice, just giddy, talking about practice and talking about you growing as players, as coaches and as men," Dye Jr. said. "There's no doubt in my mind that it absolutely extended his life. That's what he lived for."
Pat Dye Jr. noted that his father wore No. 60 as a two-way lineman at the University of Georgia, and that his senior season, 1960, was 60 years ago.
Like his legendary dad, Pat Dye Jr. concluded his remarks to the Auburn football team with words of encouragement about the challenge ahead.
"I wanted to do something that spoke to his legacy, the way he lived life, the way he coached, the way he worked, but also something that you guys could find inspiration in, particularly in a season like this, where things are so different.
"In 2020, y'all go out and make the fans proud, make your coaches proud, make your families proud, make my dad – Coach Dye – proud, by playing 60 minutes of Auburn football. Every game, every series, every play, no matter what the down and distance is and no matter what the score in the game is.
"I know he'd be so proud."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer