I’m sure many of you have read the articles over the last week or so announcing that Johnny Majors is moving back to Tennessee. No, he’s not coming to replace Fulmer. Just to live.
It’s not quite the same this time around. The last time Coach Majors was returning home to Knoxville, it was to a hero’s welcome. It was 1977. He had just won the National Championship at Pittsburgh and was returning to his alma mater, his home, to resurrect the program.
I don’t want to get into the whole Fulmer vs. Majors debate but I think it’s a shame that he appears to be more respected in Pittsburgh than he is in Tennessee. It doesn’t seem right somehow to read of a Johnny Majors Room there with pictures of the 82 win over Alabama and other memorable moments in his Tennessee career. (read link above)
It’s hard for me to remember clearly exactly how I felt when Coach Majors was run out of town at the end of the 92 season. I seem to remember feeling about our football program about like I do now. A bit restless, tired of what I viewed as mediocrity, and welcoming a change. The general consensus at that time was that our program would never reach the next level under the current regime.
I just watched the Decade of Dominance DVD this week as I usually do this time of year. Every time I watch it, I feel sad about the way Coach Majors was treated. The video really captures the different emotions he went through in his final days as coach at The University of Tennessee. He was clearly angry when he resigned the night before the Memphis game. You could hear it in his voice and see it in his face.
In the locker room the next day before the game, we got to see the other side of Johnny Majors. In one of his classic old school pre-game speeches, his boyish love for the game of football was clearly evident. He advised his players to always cherish the game while they can.
“You don’t get to play forever in football and I’ll tell you this: If I could have played football until I’m 57 years old, which I am right now, I’d still be playing.”
I can’t help but feel moved when I see the video of Coach Majors in his long brown rain coat, running through the T for the final time. It was the end of an era.
4 responses to “Johnny Majors returns to Tennessee”
“It’s hard for me to remember clearly exactly how I felt when Coach Majors was run out of town at the end of the 92 season”
Run out of town??? I dont recall anything but him leaving of his own accord. JM was great, YES! As a player and a coach…but he had taken the program as far as he could… he left because he was unwilling to open up to changes in his mindset and philosophy towards football. His own pride and arrogance is what cost him his job, not some make believe knife in the back.
Just what did CPF do to majors? He filled in for him while having heart surgery…he took us to 3-0 (with wins over UF and UGA). As Assistant head coach, wasnt that his job?
Thanks for the comment orangeblooded_2. I appreciate your input.
I agree that Johnny Majors was an old school coach and may have been unwilling to adapt.
He may have eventually been fired for not getting us to the next level but at that time, it was more about what Fulmer had done filling in for him and what happened when he came back. There was dissention among the team and the fan base. The powers that be did not want to lose Fulmer to another job. He had gotten a lot of national press for the job he had done.
Let me put it this way, I don’t believe a change is made at that specific time if Fulmer had gone 1-2 instead of 3-0 in those first three games.
I didn’t say that Fulmer did anything to Majors. He wasn’t the decision maker at the time, just a coach.
I purposely tried to side step that issue but it’s usually guaranteed to come up in any discussion of Coach Majors.
Yes, he was run out of town. He did NOT want to leave. Remember the secret phone calls made by Fulmer at that time to athletic director?
Of course he was run out of town behind his back. No way to treat a legend. UT should be ashamed!