Dye played high school football at Richmond Academy where he was selected All-American and All-State while leading the team to the 1956 3A state championship serving as team captain. Following this success, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution selected Dye as Georgia's 3A Lineman of the Year for 1956 before being recruited to the University of Georgia. While playing for the Bulldogs under head coach Wally Butts, Dye was a first-team All-SEC lineman and two-time All-American (1959 and 1960). The Atlanta Touchdown Club named him the SEC's Most Valuable Lineman in 1960. Upon graduation from Georgia, Dye played three years of professional football as a linebacker for the Edmonton Eskimos in the Canadian Football League.