Hyde, a native of Haleyville, Ala., served 21 years on the football coaching staff at UNA - 17 years as defensive coordinator and four seasons as head football coach.  In his 17 years as the defensive coordinator at North Alabama  and was the architect of some of the premier defenses in NCAA Division II history.  Hyde  served as the defensive coordinator for all 17 of the Lions all-time playoff wins and was  a part of eight Lion playoff teams, all six of UNA's Gulf South Conference championship teams and three NCAA Division II National Championship teams. In 1995 he was named NCAA Division II National Defensive Coordinator of the Year by the American Football Quarterly after UNA's defense led Division II in scoring defense and rushing defense and was second in total defense. The Lions led the Gulf South Conference in all four defensive categories.  In his time as an assistant at UNA, Hyde coached teams with a combined
145-48-7 record (.742 winning percentage) and the Lions won 28 league statistical championships. His defensive units  produced 37 All-Gulf South Conference selections and  12 All-Americans, including 1995 Harlon Hill Trophy winner Ronald McKinnon. 

In his first stint at UNA from 1977-87, Hyde helped produce defensive units in UNA and Gulf South Conference history.  His units led the GSC in scoring defense for five consecutive seasons from 1981-85 and led the league in all four defensive categories in 1985 as the Lions advanced to the NCAA Division II National Championship Game.  In his first 11 years at UNA, Hyde's defensive units finished first in the GSC in total defense five times. Hyde rejoined the UNA staff as defensive coordinator in 1992 after spending three years as defensive coordinator at Valdosta State University.  In 1992, a UNA defense which had finished near  the bottom of the GSC in virtually every category in 1991 rebounded to again to lead the league in both scoring defense and total defense - the sixth time for each, with all coming under Hyde's direction. In 1993 the Lions defense led the GSC again in scoring defense and in rushing defense, and last season's Purple Swarm defense led the GSC in rushing defense, pass defense and total defense and was in the top four nationally in all four defensive categories.  He began his coaching career at Samford University, his alma mater, in 1962.  He worked with receivers, defensive ends and linebackers and directed the defense which helped the Bulldogs win the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl Championship in 1971 as the Division II West Region champion.

After Samford dropped football in 1973, he went to Delta State as defensive coordinator for four seasons before coming to UNA in 1976. Following his departure from UNA in 1987, Hyde became head coach at Red Bay High School and led the Tigers to a 7-4 record and a state playoff appearance for the first time in 12 years.  He was named Alabama's AAA Coach of the Year. While at Valdosta State as defensive coordinator from 1989-91, his units set school records for fewest passing yards allowed and fewest total yards allowed. He was an outstanding quarterback during his playing days at Haleyville High School, he played two years of college football at Itawamba Junior College in Fulton, Miss.