Handley (Roanoke) High School's 49-0 Class 3A state football playoff win over Aliceville Friday night was the 250th win in Coach Mike Battles' career. Battles, now 250-149-2, is in his 37th year as a head prep football coach.
He is also in his seventh season at Handley, where he has compiled a 58-26 record. His last four teams have all won 10 or more games — 44-7 in that span — with this year's team currently 10-1 heading into the Tigers' second-round state playoff contest at Gordo (10-1) Friday night. Last year's team finished 13-1 and reached the Class 4A state playoffs. The Roanoke school dropped to Class 3A this season.
Battles is one of only a handful of coaches that have had unbeaten regular seasons in three states – 13-0 at Irwin County, Ga., en route to the 1975 Georgia state championship, 9-0 and 10-0 in back-to-back years in 1996 and 1997 at Gautier, Miss, and 10-0 last year at Handley. His son Mike Battles, Jr., head coach at Bibb County, won the 100th game of his coaching career earlier this season. Both advanced to the second round this year.
Battles, Sr., was head coach at Walter Wellborn in Anniston for 13 seasons from 1979-1992 and again for two seasons in 2002 and 2003 with a 115-55-1 record. He also has had coaching stints at Hueytown, Biloxi (Miss.), Gautier (Miss.), Pascagoula (Miss.) and Irwin County (Ga.).
Vestavia Hills veteran coach Buddy Anderson added to a record he already set earlier this season. He has won more games at one school than any other prep football coach in state history. Heading into this week's Class 6A second-round playoff battle at Mountain Brook (9-2), the Rebels are 8-2 and Anderson is 280-125-3 in his prep career – all at Vestavia. His entire coaching career has been spent at the suburban Birmingham area high school. His 1998 team finished 15-0 and won the 6A state title.
The next milestone standing in front of Anderson is one that actually will belong to him and his dad, Dovey Anderson. Buddy's dad was head coach for 33 years (1931-1961) at Thomasville High School and compiled a 181-72-25 record. Like his son Buddy, he did all his head coaching at one school. Combined they are 461-207-28 – which ranks second in Alabama only to two coaches who mirrored the Anderson years.
Morris Higginbotham was 190-73-1 with stops at Hueytown, Hewitt-Trussville, Scottsboro, Enterprise, B.B. Comer, West Blocton and Walnut Grove. His son Robert Higginbotham, who closed out a 36-year head-coaching career in 2008, was 273-125-3 at Mountain Brook (three years), Shades Valley (22 years) and Tuscaloosa County (11 years). Combined, the Higginbothams were 463-258-14 in their legendary careers.
Anderson, who had two state titles and four other trips to the semifinals to his coaching credit, could move the Anderson duo to first place on the father-son coaching list with three more wins this season in the playoffs.
