Statues of Auburn football icons Shug Jordan, Cliff Hare, and Pat Dye will be unveiled Friday at 3 p.m. CT outside the southwest corner of Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Prior to the unveiling, former players will share memories of Jordan and Dye. Former Auburn director of athletics David Housel will speak on Hare’s importance to Auburn football.
“Coach Jordan, Coach Dye and Dean Cliff Hare are most deserving of this esteemed honor,” said Allen Greene, AU’s athletic director “Their extraordinary contributions created the foundation on which Auburn’s football program has ascended. These statues will serve as visible reminders of their commitment to Auburn, inspiring the Auburn Family for generations.”
Hare was a member of Auburn’s first football team in 1892 and served as the first president of the Southern Athletic Conference, the precursor to the SEC. In 1949 the university changed the name of its home field from Auburn Stadium to Cliff Hare Stadium.
Jordan was a three-sport athlete at Auburn and coached the Tigers from 1951-75. He won a program record 176 games and the schools’ first national championship in 1957. In 1973 Auburn renamed its football facility “Jordan-Hare Stadium,” making Jordan the first active coach to have a stadium named after him. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1982.
Dye was a two-time All-American at Georgia and the SEC Lineman of the Year in 1960. He coached Auburn from 1981-92. He won 99 games and four SEC championships. In his time as director of athletics, he helped expand Jordan-Hare Stadium and bring the Iron Bowl to Auburn’s campus in 1989. In 5005 he was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame and Auburn named its field “Pat Dye Field.”
Fans are invited to attend on a standing-room-only basis with seating reserved for families, former players, and dignitaries. In the event of rain, the program will move indoors to the Anderson-Thorne Tigers Den and be closed to the public, except for the unveiling outdoors, officials noted.