Alabama Board of Trustees votes to officially hire Bill Battle as new Tide Athletic Director

Bill Battle will be replacing Mal Moore as the Alabama Crimson Tide athletic director. (Photo courtesy of GoVolsXtra.com)

BOT unanimously approves the hiring of Bill Battle as Alabama’s AD. $625,000 contact, four years.

— Christopher Walsh (@BOLWalsh) March 22, 2013

The University of Alabama wasted no time in finding and then ushering in their replacement for the departing Mal Moore as the school’s new athletic director.

After Moore’s announcement that he would be stepping down from the post he had held since 1999, Bama President Judy Bonner recommended Bill Battle the very next day.

From there, all that was needed was a conference call with the Board of Trustees to make everything official. That call was expected to be made on Friday, and as it happened, it was the very first thing on everyone’s schedule.

Bill Battle, who played under Bear Bryant for the Tide back in the day, and then spent several years as the coach of the University of Tennesse, went on to a massively successful career in the private sector before accepting this new challenge.

His initial contract calls for a four-year term at $625,000 annually. He inherits an athletic department that will continue to be bolstered by one of the most successful football programs in the history of the sport.

MORE TIDE: We’ve got a video of the Tide’s first Spring practice of 2013

What do you think Gamedayrs?