KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Former University of Tennessee Football Coach, and Vol For Life, Bill Battle has died at 82-years-old.
Tennessee Football announced that he died on Thanksgiving Day.
Former UT football head coach and Director of Athletics Philip Fulmer released a statement through UT on Thursday.
"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," Fulmer said in a statement. "He was supportive to us as players. 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."
Former UT football head coach Doug Dickey also released a statement.
"Coach Battle was a wonderful addition to our staff and was very popular with the players," Dickey said in the statement. "He was a terrific recruiter and had great vision and initiatives for our football team, especially offensively. He did an outstanding job as a football coach after I left Tennessee. From there, he was one of the remarkable stories in the sports business world with his company, Collegiate Licensing Company. He will be deeply missed."
Bobby Scott was a former UT quarterback in the late 1960s. Scott worked 1-on-1 with Battle, as Battle was his wide receiver coach.
"He was not only a great coach, but a great person," Scott said. "He worked us hard but he worked us fair."
Battle was the head coach of the Vols from 1970 to 1976. At only 28 years-old, he became the youngest coach at the time.
During that time he earned a 59-22-2 record. Under his coaching, the Vols had three top 10 final rankings and went to five straight bowl games.
Former UT defensive back Tim Priest spent his four years training with Battle. Battle was one of Priest's coaches.
"He knew football," Priest said. "He knew what he was doing and he was good with people."
Battle also had stints on the coaching staff at Oklahoma and Army.
He served as the University of Alabama's Director of Athletics from 2013 to 2017. The University of Alabama was also his alma mater. Alabama Athletics is also paying their tributes.