William Raines Battle III (December 8, 1941 – November 28, 2024) was an American college athletics administrator,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach, and sports marketing businessman. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the Na ...

and was head coach of the

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Colleg ...

. Battle later served as

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

at Alabama.

Career

Battle played college football for Alabama from 1960 to 1962, as an offensive end. Battle was one of many of

Bear Bryant Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and best known as the head coach of ...

's former players and assistant coaches who later became head coaches. After graduation, he became an assistant football coach at

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

(1964-1965), and then moved to

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

as offensive ends coach (1966-1969). When Doug Dickey left for

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

in 1970, Battle succeeded him as head football coach at Tennessee. At the time he began as head coach, he was at 28 the youngest college head coach in the country. Battle had a 39-9 record in his first four years (1970-1973), but failed to continue Dickey's record of winning or contending for the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

championship. In the next three years (1974-1976), Tennessee was 20-13-2 (7-10-1 in conference play), and finished 8th in 1976. Despite a 59–22–2 record in seven seasons, Battle was forced out after the 1976 season. He was replaced by Volunteer legend Johnny Majors, who had led

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

to the 1976

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

. Battle left coaching to work in sports licensing. In 1981, while working for Golden Eagle Enterprises in

Selma, Alabama Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, in the Black Belt region of south central Alabama and extending to the west. Located on the banks of the Alabama River, the city has a population of 17,971 as of the 2020 census. Abou ...

, Battle signed Bear Bryant to a licensing agreement. That year he founded

Collegiate Licensing Company The Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) is an American collegiate trademark licensing and marketing company. Founded in 1981 by Bill Battle in Selma, Alabama, CLC is the largest and oldest collegiate licensing company in the United States and cur ...

(CLC). The

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

signed on as CLC's first university client. In 1983, Battle moved the company to

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. In 2013, Alabama President Judy L. Bonner appointed him athletic director. He succeeded long-time director Mal Moore, who stepped down for health reasons at age 73. He retired as AD in 2017. Battle was also a member of the group that votes in the Harris Interactive College Football Poll.

Personal life and death

Battle was born in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

. Battle's father, William Raines "Bill" Battle Jr., was athletic director at Birmingham–Southern College from 1952 to 1974. His grandfather William Raines Battle was a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

minister. In 1962, Battle was inducted into the Alabama chapter of "National Leadership Honor Society"

Omicron Delta Kappa Omicron Delta Kappa (), also known as The Circle and ODK, is an American collegiate honor society that recognizes leadership and scholarship. It was founded in 1914, at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia and has chartered more t ...

. Battle died November 28, 2024, at the age of 82.

Head coaching record

References

External links

*
Alabama Business Hall of Fame bio

Alabama Sports Hall of Fame bio

at

Sports Reference Sports Reference, LLC is an American sports statistics company that operates databases of several sports. They include Pro Football Reference for American football, Baseball Reference for baseball, Basketball Reference for basketball, Hockey ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle, Bill 1941 births 2024 deaths American football ends Alabama Crimson Tide athletic directors Alabama Crimson Tide football players Army Black Knights football coaches Tennessee Volunteers football coaches Players of American football from Birmingham, Alabama 20th-century American sportsmen