From student to athlete to coach to teacher to principal, Barry Dye has been almost everything a person can be at Warren Central High. Now, after 27 years as an educator, Dye says he just wants to be a fan. Dye graduated in 1971 after playing as an offensive guard on the first Warren Central Dragons football team. I kept thinking, How can I still be in this game? he said. So while he attended Western Kentucky University, he volunteered to coach freshman football at Warren Central. When he graduated from Western in 1975, he became an assistant coach and a physical education teacher at Warren Central. In 1988, he became the assistant principal, but left the school to become principal of Henry Moss Middle School from 1991 to 1997. He left Henry Moss to return to his alma mater as principal, bringing a unique style of leadership that was based on his experiences as coach. As a principal, theres no one else to turn to, he said. Youve gotta get it done. I learned that from football. He also brought a light heart that teachers at Warren Central say made their time under Dye fun. I dont remember a faculty meeting where we didnt laugh, said Doug Jenkins, head of the science department. Chemistry teacher Susan Morgan, who graduated from Warren Central in 1981 when Dye was still a coach, came back to teach under him in 1998.It took me forever to change from calling him coach to Mr. Dye, she said. But it hasnt taken too long for Dye to get on the good side of his students. Its a real comfortable relationship as far as him and the students, said Luke Haley, who graduated from Warren Central Tuesday. Each day, Dye stands in the lobby of the school and carries on a conversation with anybody that walks by, Haley said. We kinda cut up, said Haley, to lighten the day up. Dye remembers one day in particular that he shocked a few students with comedy. They were in the office doing the announcements for the morning. And when they were finished, Dye said, Thank you, thank you very much, in his best Elvis Presley voice. The students looked at their principal oddly, Dye recalls. I do think some kids realize that I am human and I have a sense of humor, he said. This year, Dye put on a leather jacket and road to prom on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle. His had a sport coat in his saddlebag. My wife thinks Im just a kid, he said. And if Dyes cycle at Warren Central comes full circle, he will return to what he was when he was just a boy who couldnt wait to come to the high school. Nowadays, Dye says he still wants to go to all the Warren Central football games. But not as a student, athlete, coach, teacher or principal. I may cease to be a Dragon, Dye said. But Im not ever going to cease to be a Dragon fan.