TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Bill Battle III, who was athletic director at his alma mater, Alabama, where he played for Paul “Bear” Bryant’s first national championship team, then later coached the Tennessee Volunteers and founded the Collegiate Licensing Company, has died. He was 82.“It’s difficult to put into words just how much Coach Battle means to The University of Alabama and college athletics, as a whole,” athletic director Greg Byrne said. “He excelled in so many areas and was a true visionary.
Battle started his coaching career at Oklahoma, where he earned a master’s degree in education in 1964 while working under Bud Wilkinson. He was an assistant at Army during a two-year military tour in 1964-65. In 1981, Battle founded the Collegiate Licensing Company and was president and CEO until 2002. The company was bought by IMG in 2007.in 2013, spending four years on the job. The Crimson Tide won three national championships during his tenure, and he later served as special assistant to the university president.
“I got to know him best when he returned to direct the Alabama athletics department where his vision and leadership were driving factors in the Crimson Tide’s success that resulted in our