Jerry Dyes, coach of 1981 4×100 relay national champion team, dies

NATCHITOCHES — Jerry Dyes, one of the greatest track and field stars and coaches in the history of the state of Louisiana who led a team of Northwestern State sprinters to a remarkable national title, died Monday in Fredericksburg, Texas.  

He was 82. Funeral services are pending. 

Under Dyes’ tutelage, the 4×100 team of Victor Oatis, Joe Delaney, Mario Johnson and Mark Duper captured the 1981 Division I 400 Meter Relay, outsprinting schools like Tennessee, Georgia, Arizona State, Arizona, Baylor, Florida State, San Jose State and Oklahoma State. The quartet is still the only Division I-AA program to win an NCAA D-I relay title, men or women. 

The next year the relay team finished second at the NCAA meet in Provo, Utah, helping establish Northwestern State’s reputation in track and field. The team, along with Dyes, was inducted into the N-Club Hall of Fame in 2006, making it the first team inducted into the school’s athletic shrine. 

Overall, Dyes coached 12 seasons in Natchitoches, and his name still resonates at NSU. 

“Not only did I run under him, but coached under him as well,” an emotional Frank Trammell said. “I was his first recruit, and he was proud of it and always remembered that.  

“When he got the job, I was his first track athlete signing, and I always valued that and it held a special place in my heart.” 

At the age of 22 and following a standout prep career at Shreveport’s Fair Park High School and competing at then-Northeast Louisiana College and Abilene Christian College, Dyes decided to go into a career in coaching, a journey that spanned 30 years and helped lay the foundation for Northwestern State’s continued track and field success. 

Dyes immediately made a coaching impact, beginning his coaching career by leading Corpus Christi Ray High School to championships in the 1960s in both track and cross country before heading to Natchitoches (1970-82), helping lead NSU to the relay title before coaching Louisiana Tech and Abilene Christian. 

“When he got to NSU, the school wasn’t all that known as a track school, and he turned around the program and developed and coached All-Americans and conference champions,” Trammell said.  

“After the news, I talked to several former teammates, and we all talked about how he took a small school in northern Louisiana and turned it into a power. This program has a terrific legacy, which was in large part due to coach Dyes. From Walter Ledet, whom the track complex is named for, to coach Dyes and it has continued on to Leon Johnson and now Mike Heimerman, the program has a strong legacy.” 

Dyes even had a significant impact on people he didn’t get to coach. 

“Coach Dyes was such a great mentor to me,” former Northwestern State president Dr. Chris Maggio said. “I knew coach from back when he recruited me. While I didn’t run for him, his intellect for track and field was second to none. 

“He built great programs wherever he coached, whether it was here or Louisiana Tech. Jerry was a very fine man and a world-class athlete, not mention a world-class coach as well.” 

Dyes graduated from Fair Park in 1959. There, he was all-state in track in 1959 in three events (long jump, triple jump and javelin). He won 95 percent of his competitions, which included his main three events, as well as the shot put, discus throw and high jump. 

He received a scholarship Northeast Louisiana College (now Louisiana-Monroe) in the fall of 1959 and spring of 1960 before transferring to Abilene Christian College (now University) in 1960, graduating in 1964 with a bachelor’s degree. In 1976, he received a master’s degree from NSU. 

While at ULM, he was the national freshman champion in the triple jump in 1960 and runner-up in the javelin. One night in 1960, he participated in 11 events at a track meet in Natchitoches. 

After transferring to ACC, he became an All-American in the javelin. 

In the 1964 Kansas Relays decathlon, he set an American decathlon record in the javelin throw that stood for 20 years at 249-1. 

In between coaching jobs, Dyes served as high school principal, director of operations and assistant superintendent at three different Texas school districts. 

Education remained a priority in Dyes’ career even after he was finished coaching. 

Dyes also worked for the Texas Education Agency as a program specialist in the District Effective and Compliance Division. He finished his education life as a substitute teacher for the Fredericksburg ISD in 2018. 

“Coach was a good man and good father,” Trammell said. “When he talked, everybody listened. He changed my life and he meant a ton to a lot of us. Everybody needs someone like Coach in their lives.” 

He is survived by his wife Genevieve and sons, Dr. Jonathan Dyes and Adam Jeremy Joseph Dyes.