RIP: Former Tennessee Football Head Coach Bill Battle Passes Away…

During his tenure as a player, Battle was recognized on the UA all-decade team for the 1960s, earning first-team honors as a tight end and second-team honors as a defensive end.“Coach Battle was a great player and top prospect in the South when he came to Alabama at a time when the program was down,” Paul Bryant Jr. said in a statement. “He started for Papa for three years including a national championship. He created the licensing industry that The University and schools nationwide still benefit from today. He was a major donor to The University. When we needed him again, he left retirement to help us as Athletic Director.”

Battle earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from Alabama in 1963 and went on to receive a master’s degree from Oklahoma in 1964. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Oklahoma under Bud Wilkinson.

Career History:

• Served as an assistant coach for the Army football team at the United States Military Academy in West Point for two years
• He then joined Tennessee as an assistant coach for four years before becoming the head coach in 1970, making him the youngest head coach in modern Southeastern Conference history (was 29 when he took the head coaching position). Over seven seasons, he complied a record of 59-22-2 and led the Volunteers to four bowl victories in five appearances, including a notable win against Bryant’s Alabama team in his inaugural season.
• After coaching at Tennessee, he established the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) in 1981, where he served as president and CEO for 21 years.
• Battle later returned to serve as athletic director at Alabama from 2013-2017, a period during which the university secured three national championships, 10 SEC championships across five sports, along with 15 individual national champions. He succeeded Mal Moore in this role.

Accolades:

• Lifetime achievement award from the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame
• Inducted into Alabama’s Hall of Fame in 1981
• The National Collegiate Licensing Association Hall of Fame
• The Alabama Business Hall of Fame
• 2005 Paul W. Bryant Alumni Athlete Award
• His most distinguished recognition is the naming of Alabama’s strength and conditioning complex in his honor