Mike Battles

Mike Battles devoted more than 50 years of his life to playing football in high school and college or coaching the sport in high schools in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. He was a head football coach an astonishing total of 44 years.

Battles attended schools in Anniston through junior high but moved to Sylacauga with his family when the mill that employed his father in Calhoun County closed. At Sylacauga High School, he was a two-way standout in football as the Aggies’ center on offense and a linebacker on defense.

He earned a football scholarship to Southern Mississippi where he was a starter at linebacker as a sophomore and a junior. Just before the start of his senior season, his arm was broken in practice. In typical Battles’ fashion, he underwent surgery to have his arm secured with a plate and screws and played on.

Walter Wellborn High School was Battles’ football coaching home for a total of 15 seasons. He coached the Panthers for two seasons in 1979 and 1980, going 12-7-1, before spending one season in Pascagoula, Miss.

In 1982, Battles was back at Wellborn and remained through the 1992 season, a total of 11 years. Wellborn enjoyed some of its greatest success during that time going 78-31 overall. Six of those wins came in the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s Class 5A playoffs.

Battles’ 1988 Panthers were 11-2 with both losses coming to eventual Class 5A state champion Oxford. In 1989, Wellborn was 10-3 with a season-opening loss to eventual 6A state champion Anniston and two losses to eventual 5A state champion Oxford.

For the 1993 season, Battles moved to Hueytown. His third Hueytown team reached the 6A playoffs then won three straight playoff games before losing in the state semifinal round, finishing 9-5.

From 1996 through the 2001 season, Battles coached in Mississippi again. He spent two seasons at Gautier, going 19-1, and four seasons at Biloxi where Battles’ teams were 17-28. He returned to Wellborn for the 2002 and 2003 seasons. After the Panthers were 7-11 over two years, Battles moved to the head coaching position at Handley in Roanoke.

Seven of his first eight Handley teams made the playoffs, crowned by the 15-0 Class 3A state championship team of 2011. Battles’ final move came ahead of the 2015 season. After coaching Handley to an 88-45 record in 11 seasons, Battles spent three seasons coaching B.B. Comer. His Comer Tigers were 7-23 but set the stage for Comer’s recent football successes. Battles retired from coaching following the conclusion of the 2017 season.

Battles’ Wellborn teams were 97-55-1 and his overall record coaching Alabama schools is 216-143-1. His overall career record is 287-191-2.

In 2014, Battles was inducted into the AHSAA Hall of Fame. In 2020, he received the Alabama Football Coaches Association’s Lifetime Achievement award.