Mike Bates graduated from Curry High School and got his degree from the University of Alabama-Birmingham.

Bates landed his first head coaching job at Marion County in 1981. In six seasons his teams went 43-24 making the playoffs four times. He coached one year at Lawrence County in 1987 before moving on to his alma mater, Curry, the next year.

The Yellow Jackets had the states longest losing streak and had never been to the playoffs when he took the head coaching job in 1988. In five seasons at Curry his squads finished 28-26 winning two area titles and made the playoffs twice.

Following the 1992 season, Coach Bates stepped down at Curry to accept the head football coaching job at Cullman High School. In his eight seasons at Cullman, the Bearcats posted a record of 46-37. His last team finished 10-2 and won the region title.

Coach Bates was named the head football coach at St. Pauls in 2007. The 51 year old Bates, who had served as the defensive coordinator at St. Pauls the previous two seasons, took over for Eddie Guth, who had left after 10 years as the Saints head coach.

In 2007, he led a St. Pauls squad featuring Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron to a 14-1 record and Class 5A State Championship. Bates stayed with the Saints for only two seasons. In 2013, after a five year layoff from coaching, he returned to take the reins at Holly Pond in his seventh stop as a head coach.

His overall record stands at 173-170 over 30 seasons as a head football coach.

Coach Bates was named the 5A Coach of the Year by the Alabama Sports Writers Association in 2007.