Bill Battle, a transformative figure in the history of college athletics, died on Thursday, Tennessee has announced.
An end for Bear Bryant's Alabama teams in the early 1960s, Battle entered coaching at Oklahoma in 1963 and joined Tennessee's staff in 1966. After four seasons under College Football Hall of Fame head coach Doug Dickey, Battle was named Dickey's replacement in 1970, becoming a head coach at the age of 28.
Battle experienced instant success, leading the 1970 Volunteers to an 11-1 season with a Sugar Bowl victory and a No. 4 final AP ranking. Tennessee also went 10-2 with bowl wins and AP top-10 rankings in 1971 and '72. Battle was eventually forced out after the 1976 season with a 59-22-2 record.
In 1972, Battle made Condredge Holloway the first Black starting quarterback in SEC history.
The Tennessee firing led to Battle's ultimate calling in college sports.
In 1981, he founded the Collegiate Licensing Company, which generated millions upon millions of licensing dollars for its more than 200 clients across universities, conferences, bowl games, the Heisman Trophy, and the NCAA itself. Battle served as CLC's president and CEO until 2002. In 2007, CLC was sold to IMG.
Finally, in 2013 Battle returned to his alma mater to serve as Alabama's athletics director from 2013-17.
In 2008, Battle won the National Football Foundation's Outstanding Contributor to Amateur Football Award, and he entered Tennessee's Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.
"When Coach Battle took over for Coach Dickey, he was a tremendous leader for us. We did not miss a beat, and we continued to have outstanding teams. He was supportive to us as players," said Phillip Fulmer, a Vols player for Dickey and a future Tennessee head coach. "He adopted us as his school and was always loyal to us. Coach Battle was a fantastic businessman and an even better person. We shared a great friendship."
Bill Battle was 82 years old.