Willis S. "Billy" Bates was an American football and basketball coach in the United States. He served as the head football coach at Auburn University (1903), Fairmount College, now known as Wichita State University, (1905–1908), and Southwestern College in Kansas (1914–1925), compiling a career record of 84–52–12. He also coached basketball at Fairmount (1905–1908) and Southwestern (1914–1926), tallying a career mark of 179–79.