Bates then spent the next three seasons as head coach at Sevier County High School in Sevierville, Tennessee, before returning to the collegiate ranks with the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles in 1972.
After 12 games, Bates resigned as head coach following the club's failure to pay its players over the course of several preceding weeks.
Served as a Linebackers Coach for the University of Tennessee When Steve Spurrier was hired as the new head football coach for the University of Florida in 1990, Spurrier hired Bates as his first defensive coordinator for his Florida Gators football team.
He went 3-4 (including a Monday Night victory over the eventual Super Bowl champion New England Patriots) with the underachieving Dolphins, who had started 1-8 under Wannstedt.
When Mike Sherman was fired by Packers General Manager Ted Thompson on January 2, 2006, Bates was offered the opportunity to interview for the head position.
He interviewed on January 10 but was informed the next day the organization would be hiring San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McCarthy instead.
In early January 2007, Bates was signed on by the Denver Broncos to replace Larry Coyer as the defensive coordinator.
[5] On January 22, 2009, he was announced as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Defensive Coordinator, working with new head coach Raheem Morris.
Linebacker Zach Thomas and defensive end Jason Taylor are among the players Bates developed in Miami.
James Bates, his oldest son, played linebacker for the Florida Gators and was a captain on the Gators' 1996 Florida Gators football team, and 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season where Jim served as a defensive coordinator, Bates works as A Color commentator on the ACC Network and raycom Sports His daughter Jennifer, was previously a television sports reporter and news anchor at KWCH, the CBS affiliate in Wichita, Kansas.