AL MYATT: Dye, ECU, UVa cross paths one more time

Coaching legend Pat Dye will be on familiar ground when he arrives for ECU's Hall of Fame Weekend

It's fitting that former East Carolina football coach Pat Dye will be enshrined in the university's athletic hall of fame this year when the Pirates are playing Virginia rather than last year, when health problems prevented him from being on hand for the hall of fame game against Rice.

COMING FRIDAY

Ron Cherubini's "Pirate Time Machine" feature on Pat Dye that appeared in the 2004 Bonesville Magazine will make its Web debut on Bonesville.net.

When it comes to celebrating past achievements at ECU, Dye has a much stronger connection to the Cavaliers than he does to the Owls.

Dye was in his second season with the Pirates in 1975 when ECU blasted Virginia 61-10 in Charlottesville, the only previous meeting between the two programs. The Cavaliers were coached by Sonny Randle, who left as head coach at ECU after guiding the Pirates to consecutive Southern Conference championships in 1972 and '73.

Dye remembers a lot about the 1975 season, including a 3-0 win at The Citadel, coached by Bobby Ross, that proved what he left after nine years on Bear Bryant's staff at Alabama to find out — that he could be a head coach.

"We had started that season slow and lost three of the first five games," Dye recalled. "At The Citadel, the sixth game that season, we played as hard as any football team I've ever had. We won 3-0 and we became a football team."

The Pirates were without starting quarterback Mike Weaver against the Bulldogs because he had come down with a virus. Weaver's back-up, Pete Conaty, went out in the first half with a broken collarbone.

"I don't know if we could have won if they hadn't called that clip," Dye said. "We played as good as we could but we couldn't score. We came back home and we got well and we played Western Carolina the next week."

Dye had some specific instructions to his coaching staff, which included a youthful Watson Brown, now head coach at UAB.

"I told them we weren't going to throw a pass until I told them we were going to throw a pass," Dye said. "We were a wishbone football team and I wanted them to get that point. We had been running some hybrid stuff, but we weren't good at anything."

Dye waited until the fourth quarter when the Catamounts free safety had come way up before giving Brown the okay for a couple of post routes. Terry Gallaher was on the receiving end.

The next week included two events of great significance in ECU football history — the death of former Pirates coach and athletic director Clarence Stasavich and the program's only win in 10 tries against North Carolina.

"We beat 'em 38-17," Dye said. "It was 21-17 at the half. At the end of the game, we ran the clock out on (their) 5-yard line to keep from scoring again."

A 21-10 win over Furman preceded ECU's trip to be Virginia's homecoming opponent.

"(Virginia) had been kind of struggling," Dye said. "I didn't know what to expect other than the fact that we had gotten to be a pretty good football team, particularly with our offensive execution. Our fans were excited. There was something made of the fact that Coach Randle had gone to Virginia (from ECU)."

Randle later admitted he made a career mistake by leaving ECU for UVa, a point illustrated for him by the Pirates that day.

"Sonny and I were talking before that game, you know, like coaches do," Dye said. "I was getting ready to walk back to my side of the field and he was getting ready to go back to his. Sonny called me back over and said, 'Pat, if we run the score up, don't take it personally.' I just said, 'Sure, I understand.' I didn't know what would happen."

"We had five running backs and they all could play," Dye said. "We had two fullbacks and they all could play. We had seven offensive linemen and they all could play."

The Pirates ran for 642 yards that Nov. 8, 1975, at Virginia. Dye didn't have anyone to put in the game who couldn't play.

"It got out of hand," he said. "I can remember telling the officials in the fourth quarter to let the clock run because I can't stop these guys over here. We were playing our last quarterback, our last running back and our last fullback. I told the officials, 'Please don't stop the clock.' "

Dye said he didn't think the Pirate players were especially motivated to play well against their former coach.

"All of 'em thought I was crazy when I got there and we worked 'em so hard they probably weren't sure who had been head coach," Dye said.

When Randle returned to Virginia to coach his alma mater, the ECU search committee that zeroed in on Dye was given a unique challenge in the down-home drawl of the former Georgia All-American.

"I told them I didn't know if I could be a head coach," Dye said. "But I told them if they had the guts to hire me, I had the guts to come find out. I was still trying to figure that out when we were 2-3 my second year there.

"That Citadel game was a turning point in my coaching career. A lot happened the week before that game. I knew we had enough talent but we were struggling to play together. After that game, we won until (North) Carolina beat us the next year. (UNC-Chapel Hill) won the game but they didn't really beat us. They kicked four field goals."

The rout of the Cavaliers was part of a 12-game ECU winning streak, second in school history to a string of 14 straight wins under Stasavich in 1963 and '64.

Stasavich had told Dye he would pay him $22,000 to be ECU's head coach after Randle's departure. Dye was making $22,900 as an assistant at Alabama but he still accepted the ECU offer.

"I mentioned to a friend in Greenville that I was actually making more at Alabama and Dr. (Leo) Jenkins called me later and raised my salary up to $24,000,' Dye said. "Dr. Jenkins (former ECU chancellor) was a fan and he understood the importance of football. He was instrumental in getting a medical school.

"I always thought I had a lot in common with Dr. Jenkins. He wasn't afraid of a fight and I wasn't either. He fought all the politics in North Carolina to get a medical school. I was excited to play any school in the ACC."

Dye used an innovative offense at the time — the wishbone — to improve his chances against the region's ACC programs.

"I knew we weren't going to be as big or as strong or as pretty as the ACC teams, but we could be quicker," Dye said. "We played a lot of people and didn't let 'em get tired. I knew if we could outquick 'em and outlast 'em, we might beat 'em."

Dye, who was inducted last year into the College Football Hall of Fame, said he's looking forward to being back on his old stomping grounds this weekend.

"I'm looking forward to coming back," he said. "Greenville and East Carolina still mean a lot to me. It was as fine a place to live as anywhere I've lived. My children still call it home. East Carolina as an institution is a great school.

"I need East Carolina in my personal hall of fame more than they need me in theirs. East Carolina is where I grew up as a coach. They gave me that opportunity — Dr. Jenkins and Coach Stasavich."

"Coach Holtz has done a wonderful job, but that doesn't surprise me," he said. "East Carolina is a football school. The people love it and they support it."