Alabama AD Bill Battle to take leave of absence for cancer treatment

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Alabama athletic director Bill Battle will take a leave of absence to treat his cancer, reports the Tuscaloosa News.

Battle has Stage 1 multiple myeloma, but the illness is not life threatening. Battle will be away from Alabama for at least two weeks as he will undergo stem cell replacement at the Winship Cancer Center at Emory University.

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“That doesn't mean I will stop working,” Battle told the News. “I will be in touch by e-mail every day. I will be in direct contact with our senior administrators on a daily basis, and I expect to be back in the office later this summer. My doctors say that I will be able to keep working for years, for as long as I want to.”

• Alabama’s strength coach makes $525,000 a year

Battle, a former football coach at Tennessee, has been the Crimson Tide’s athletic director since March 2013. He attended Alabama from 1960–62, playing under Bear Bryant.

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