As a basketball head coach, Dye led the University of Washington to its only NCAA Final Four appearance in 1953.

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.

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, a member of the second American Football League, in 1937.

In 1950, the Buckeyes won the Big Ten title and finished in the Elite Eight of the NCAA basketball tournament.

[1] 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.

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.