Former University of Tennessee head football coach Bill Battle has passed away at the age of 82, according to a post from Tennessee Football on X.
“On this Thanksgiving, we mourn the passing of former head coach Bill Battle,” Tennessee wrote in the post. “Battle served as HC of the Vols from 1970-1976, compiling a 59-22-2 record, three top 10 final rankings and five straight bowls.”
On this Thanksgiving, we mourn the passing of former head coach Bill Battle. Battle served as HC of the Vols from 1970-76, compiling a 59-22-2 record, three top 10 final rankings and 5 straight bowls. pic.twitter.com/NptQwxz3mg
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) November 28, 2024
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Battle was born in Birmingham, AL, in December 1941. The former Alabama defensive end (1960-1962) began his assistant coaching career with Army from 1964 to 1965 before joining Doug Dickey’s Tennessee coaching staff as the defensive ends coach.
Battle served as an assistant with Tennessee from 1966 to 1969 until he was promoted to head coach before the 1970 season. At the time of his promotion, Battle was the youngest head coach in the country at just 29 years old. Battle took over the position after Dickey moved to his alma mater Florida before the 1970 season.
Battle coached at Tennessee for seven seasons but was let go after the 1976 campaign, a season that saw the Vols go just 6-5 under Battle’s watch.
Battle ended his career in an athletics administration role as the Alabama Athletic Director from 2013 to 2017.
When Battle took over at Tennessee, his teams quickly saw success. Tennessee suffered no more than three losses in each of his first three years with the program with wins in the Sugar Bowl, the Liberty Bowl, and the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl. All three of those teams also finished the season inside the AP Top 10 at No. 4, No. 9, and No. 8, respectively.
Battle’s legacy also goes hand-in-hand with Tennessee and SEC icon Condredge Holloway. Tennessee signed Holloway after Battle’s first season as he would go on to become the SEC’s first black starting quarterback during the 1972 season.
Holloway played for Battle in all three of his seasons at Tennessee from 1972 to 1974.
Bill Battle coached several notable names at Tennessee including Holloway, QB Bobby Scott, P Craig Colquitt, WR/RB Stanley Morgan, and DB Bobby Majors.
Bill Battle was 82 at the time of his passing on Thursday. Battle won two SEC Championships with Tennessee as an assistant coach in 1967 and 1969. The Alabama native also won the 1961 national championship with the Crimson Tide, as well as two football national championships with Alabama as the director of athletics in 2015 and 2017.
