At the time Pat Tyne took over the duties of Cerritos College men's water polo and swimming coach in 1963, the program had only been in existence for two years. Tyne was named the Falcons head coach after the program's inaugural coach Bob Horn, took over as head coach at UCLA. It only took Tyne four seasons to win the college's only state championship in 1966. On Friday, December 11, 2020, Tyne lost his battle with pancreatic and liver cancer. He was 89 years old.

Prior to the 1966 season, Tyne was quoted prior to the start of the season as saying, "I'll be happy if we win just half of our games." Not only did they win more than half, they posted a 20-6 record, which included becoming the first Southern California school to win the state title, while they were named the NCAA Junior College Division national champions that season. Tyne was known for downplaying the abilities of his teams, most notably in 1966, as his team was coming off a 19-4 record in 1965 and placed fourth at the Southern California Championships.

From 1963-1996, Tyne (pictured, left with his 1966 team) led the Falcons to five conference championships, which included the 1964 Southern California Championship and a top four finish at the state championships in four of his first five seasons. In that 1966 state championship season, they defeated three-time defending state champion Foothill College, who was riding a 66-match winning streak at the time.

Current Cerritos men's swimming and water polo head coach Joe Abing stated he only briefly met Tyne once, but heard many stories from coaches who were around at the time.

"Everything I learned about him was that he instilled toughness into his teams, which I really liked," said Abing, who took over the aquatics programs in 2003. "I like to think that I've been able to do the same with my teams. I've been told he got his guys to be tough and I appreciated hearing that. I'm sure he impacted a long list of lives over his years at Cerritos. He created the foundation of these programs and I've tried my best to maintain the standards to set."

Former wrestling coach and Athletics Director Jeff Smith, who was also a student-athlete at Cerritos, was a longtime friend of Tyne. Smith's mentor, Hal Simonek, who served as the college's wrestling coach, Athletics Director and women's swimming and water polo coach during his tenure, assumed the responsibilities of the men's program from 1997-02 (along with Ron Parks) until Abing was hired. The three of them were inseparable during their time together as Falcon coaches and wreaked a lot of fun-loving havoc against each other.

"I have so many stories about Pat," stated Smith. "Since Hal and I were both wrestlers, we tended to stick together and team up on Pat a little bit over the years. Pat's wife Sally graduated from USC, so Pat was an 'SC fan. After Cerritos, I wrestled at Michigan State University, and one year when the Spartans beat USC in the Rose Bowl, Pat came to work and someone had mysteriously decorated his door in green. We still haven't figured out who did it," added Smith with a chuckle.

"Pat was a very honest, but outspoken person," added Smith. "He wasn't shy about telling you if he didn't agree with you. But at the same time, he was a very caring person. When I was hired to be an instructor and coach at Cerritos, both Pat and Hal were there to help me out and guide a young teacher. Pat gave me a lot of direction and was a very special person to my family and I."

Tyne was born in Bakersfield in 1929 and graduated from Downey High in 1946. He was a two-time All-American water polo player at Compton College before transferring to Cal State Long Beach. Prior to coming to Cerritos College, Tyne coached at Downey High from 1951-61 and at Western High in 1962. Tyne is survived by his wife Sally, with whom they had two sons, Jeff and Kevin and resided in Newport Beach.