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William Henry Harrison "Tippy" Dye (April 1, 1915 – April 11, 2012) was an American college athlete, coach, and athletic director. As a
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...
, Dye led the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
to its only
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
Final Four appearance in
1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...
. As an athletic director, Dye helped build the
University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
football dynasty in the 1960s.


Playing career

Born in Harrisonville, Ohio, Dye enrolled at
Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...
in 1933 and became a star three-sport athlete for the Buckeyes. He earned three
varsity letter A varsity letter (or monogram) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its recipient was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met. A person who ...
s as a football
quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...
in 1934,
1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...
, and 1936. His team finished those seasons with records of 7–1, 7–1, and 5–3, respectively, and until 2006 he was the only Buckeye quarterback to win three consecutive games over the
University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
. Dye also played guard on the
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
team, lettering in 1935, 1936, and 1937. He was an All-Conference selection in the Big Ten in 1936 and 1937. In 1937 he was also the team's captain. Dye lettered in
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
in 1935 and 1936. After graduation, Dye played in the 1937 College All-Star Football Game against the
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...
at Soldier Field (collegians upset the defending champion Packers 6–0). In that game, Dye played in a backfield that included future pro legend, Sammy Baugh. Dye then signed to play with the first incarnation of the
Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...
, a member of the second American Football League, in 1937.


Coaching career

After his one-year stint with the Bengals, Dye entered the coaching ranks. He coached first at Grandview Heights High School just outside Columbus from 1939–41. On April 3, 1941, Dye was named the coach at Brown where he also was an assistant coach for the football team under Paul Brown. The next year, Dye returned to Ohio State to be an assistant for the football and basketball teams. The Buckeye's basketball team was coached by Harold Olsen at the time, one of the men who spearheaded the creation of an NCAA basketball tournament in 1939. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Dye served for three years in the U.S. Navy. He then went on to become the basketball coach at his alma mater, Ohio State, from 1947 to 1950. In 1950, the Buckeyes won the Big Ten title and finished in the Elite Eight of the NCAA basketball tournament. Dye then moved on to the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
in
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
, where he was the head coach from 1950 to 1959. Washington won three consecutive Pacific Coast titles (1951–53), and advanced to the
1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...
NCAA Final Four. Dye's 156–91 record () with the Huskies ranks him as the fourth winningest coach in UW basketball history, behind coaches Hec Edmundson (488 wins), Marv Harshman (246 wins), and Lorenzo Romar (298 wins).


Athletic director

Long desiring an administrative role, Dye left Seattle in 1959 to become the athletic director at the University of Wichita, at an annual salary of $13,000. After three years, he moved up to the Big Eight Conference at the
University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
in Lincoln in 1962. Prior to hiring Dye, the Nebraska football program had an all-time winning percentage of less than 62%, and had a lackluster two decades; Dye hired Bob Devaney from
Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...
following the 1961 season as head coach. Devaney would coach ten years and win two national championships while being asked to replace Dye as director in 1967. He hired head basketball coach Joe Cipriano, the scrappy leader from his Final Four team at Washington. Cipriano coached the Huskers for 17 seasons, until his death from cancer in 1980. Dye moved on to
Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
in 1967 and retired in 1974, retiring to Florida.


Name

Dye was named after
William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was the ninth president of the United States, serving from March 4 to April 4, 1841, the shortest presidency in U.S. history. He was also the first U.S. president to die in office, causin ...
, the ninth U.S. President. Harrison used the campaign nickname of Tippecanoe in 1840, which led in turn to Dye's nickname of "Tippy."


Death

Dye died in 2012 in Grass Valley, California, ten days after his 97th birthday. In recent years, he had lived in California with his daughter and her husband following his wife's death, who died in 2001 after 64 years of marriage. He was buried next to her in Pomeroy, Ohio.


Head coaching record


See also

* List of NCAA Division I Men's Final Four appearances by coach


References


External links


Sports Reference
– Tippy Dye - college basketball head coaching records * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dye, Tippy 1915 births 2012 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American football quarterbacks American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Ohio Basketball players from Ohio Brown Bears men's basketball coaches Nebraska Cornhuskers athletic directors North Carolina Pre-Flight Cloudbusters football players Northwestern Wildcats athletic directors Ohio State Buckeyes baseball players Ohio State Buckeyes football players Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball coaches Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball players People from Pomeroy, Ohio Washington Huskies men's basketball coaches Wichita State Shockers athletic directors United States Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century American sportsmen