The Selma Quarterback Club’s lineup for 2014 was already stacked with big names and a late addition has only made it stronger.

University of Alabama athletic director Bill Battle will speak to the club Oct. 20, a day that was originally scheduled to be an off week for the club.

“We started a few months back communicating with Bill Battle’s office trying to get him on our schedule for this year,” said W.Forrest Hatfield, who serves on the board for the quarterback club. “He just had a lot of conflicts going being in the position he is in, and we couldn’t get a definite answer until he worked some other things on his schedule out. We finally got confirmation on that this week.”

Battle, who has strong ties to Selma, took over as the athletic director at Alabama in 2013.

Battle previously worked at Circle S Industries in Selma, holding numerous positions through his time there.

According to his biography at RollTide.com, Circle S grew from two companies earning $12 million in annual sales to 10 companies earning $60 million during Battle’s stay with the company.

Battle was a three-year starter at Alabama from 1960-1962.

He played tight end and defensive end on legendary head coach Paul “Bear” Bryant’s first national championship team in Tuscaloosa in 1961.

After his playing career ended, Battle went into coaching. At age 28, he landed the head coaching position at the University of Tennessee, leading the Vols to a 59-22-2 record.

“Bill has had a great football career himself, both playing and coaching,” Hatfield said.

Battle also started the Collegiate Licensing Company in 1981 and served as the chief executive officer until 2002.

Battle’s addition to the schedule will not cost members anything beyond the $175 they pay as membership dues.

“We decided to use this as a bonus. It won’t affect the price any,” Hatfield said. “Everyone actually gets an extra speaker this year as a result of us being able to work this out.”

Battle joins a list of speakers that already included Auburn head men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl and college football analyst Tony Barnhart.

“We felt like we had a tremendous schedule as it was and bringing in him in as an addition to that is really top-flight,” Hatfield said.