Reflecting on the life of Bill Battle

A normally happy and festive Thanksgiving Day was rudely interrupted by the sad news of the passing of former Tennessee head coach and Alabama athletics director Bill Battle.  

I became a Vol fan when I went to my first game as a 12-year-old in 1971 and Bill was the youngest head coach in the country. I used to watch The Bill Battle Show regularly on Sundays and the program flirted with greatness early in his tenure, first with great defense and later with the greatness of Condredge Holloway, the first black American to play the quarterback position in the Southeastern Conference.  

Bill was movie star handsome and had an “aw shucks” demeanor that endeared him to any fan who didn’t hold it against him that he got the UT job instead of Johnny Majors. His first three Tennessee teams went 31-5 and finished in the top 10 each year, but things started to turn downward. 

I realized my dream of going to UT and got a student job in Sports Information as a freshman in 1976 under the legendary Haywood Harris and Bud Ford. It was a difficult football season as the Volunteers struggled and Bill was let go before the final game, a win over Vanderbilt. He acted with dignity throughout a difficult time. 

In hindsight, Bill had three things going against him at UT:  

1. He was very young at 28 to try to succeed Doug Dickey, who had the UT program at the top of the SEC. 

2. He wasn’t Johnny Majors, the former Vol All-America favorite son from Huntland, who was in the process of turning the Iowa State program around. 

3. He played at Alabama. 

Bill landed on his feet, going back to Alabama to get into business with his mentor Paul “Bear” Bryant and eventually he started the Collegiate Licensing Company, a company that basically created the collegiate sports licensing business and put it on par with professional sports. Everything  you now buy with any of the University of Tennessee trademarks is organized through CLC and the company makes sure proper royalties are paid to the university. 

Bill’s sons Pat and Mike joined the business and the company grew and grew. As I got into the college sports world after graduation I had the pleasure of doing business with the Battles. As you would expect, they were first class in every respect. 

Years later, Bill sold CLC to the IMG sports marketing company. I don’t think I’m speaking out of turn that it was for a boatload of money and deservedly so. I ended up at IMG shortly after and for about 18 months during my tenure, I had the honor of overseeing CLC and made frequent trips to the Atlanta headquarters. 

I would always spend time with Bill when I could, as he still kept an office there and I would pick his brain on the business but we’d always end up talking college football. A few years later, IMG honored me with the Bill Battle Entrepreneurship Award. It occupies a prominent spot on my desk and a special place in my heart. 

I never heard Bill say a bad thing about his time at Tennessee and never heard him express bitterness about his forced exit. I would usually make a habit of calling him when one of his former UT players passed, as I knew he loved his guys. He usually knew about it, as he kept close tabs on his former Volunteers. 

Since Bill had sold his company, he was available when Alabama A.D. Mal Moore was sick and I’m told he asked Bill to replace him in 2013. I think that was a perfect way for Bill to end his long and distinguished career by serving his beloved alma mater until 2017. 

Bill was a “southern gentleman,” in every good sense of that phrase. He was low key but he lit up a room with his grace and stature and presence. I might even describe it as a “quiet charisma.”  

After leaving IMG, I started my own company seven years ago called Taymar – my wife’s name is Tammy and I’m Mark. We do outbound ticket sales, ticket operations, fundraising and sponsorship sales and management for athletics departments. Bill’s company CLC was an inspiration. So was Host Communications, where I got my start in 1982. 

Bill was my hero as a young fan and later as an aspiring business owner. He was very worthy of that lofty title. 

Mark Dyer 

UTK Class of 1981 

Founder/CEO – Taymar Sales U.