Brian Battie (born September 27, 2001) is an American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

running back and return specialist for the

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year coeducational university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

. He has previously played for the South Florida Bulls.

Early life and high school

Battie grew up in Sarasota, Florida and initially attended

Braden River High School Braden River High School is a public high school in Bradenton, Florida, United States. It is a part of the School District of Manatee County. History Braden River High School opened in August 2005. Athletics Braden River's colors are maroon, bl ...

. He transferred to Sarasota High School after his freshman year and rushed for 1,227 yards and 19 touchdowns on 136 attempts as a sophomore. Battie transferred back to Braden River before his junior year and gained 2,133 yards on 246 carries with 28 rushing touchdowns. He transferred again and returned to Sarasota High School for his senior year and rushed for 1,182 yards and scored 15 touchdowns. Battie committed to play college football at

South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...

over offers from Kansas State, Cincinnati, UConn, Akron, Buffalo,

Middle Tennessee State Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU or MT) is a public university in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Founded in 1911 as a normal school, the university consists of eight Undergraduate education, undergraduate colleges as well as a college of Postgr ...

, Northern Illinois,

Coastal Carolina Coastal Carolina University (CCU or Coastal) is a public university in Conway, South Carolina. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, it became an in ...

and

Georgia Southern Georgia Southern University (GS or Georgia Southern) is a public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia. The flagship campus is in Statesboro, and other locations include the Armstrong Campus in Savannah and the Liberty Campus in Hin ...

College career

Battie rushed for 332 yards and one touchdown on 46 carries as a freshman. He rushed for 102 yards on 15 carries with one touchdown in the final game of the season against rival

UCF The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

in a 58–46 loss. Battie rushed 324 yards and one touchdown during his sophomore season. He was named a first team All-American as a return specialist by the

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

and the Walter Camp Foundation and was a second team selection by the ''

Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'' after returning 20 kickoffs for 650 yards and three touchdowns, all of which were on 100-yard returns. On January 9, 2023, Battie announced that he was transferring to

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

. On January 1, 2024, Battie announced that he would be entering the transfer portal for the second time. However, on January 9, he would withdraw his name from the transfer portal.

Personal life

On May 18, 2024, Battie was involved in a shootout in his hometown of Sarasota. His older brother, Tommie Battie IV, was fatally shot in the altercation and would die from his injuries. Battie was transported to the hospital in critical condition with multiple injuries.

References

External links

South Florida Bulls bioAuburn Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Battie, Brian 2001 births Living people Sarasota High School alumni South Florida Bulls football players Players of American football from Sarasota, Florida American football running backs All-American college football players Auburn Tigers football players