Could Majors have won a NC here?

[OffTackleVol]

There is no question in my mind that Tennessee could have and SHOULD have won a title in 1992. The only problem we had was Johnny Majors, Fulmer lead the Vols to a perfect opening of the season. This included an away upset of #14 UGA and a home upset drubbing of #4 Florida 31-14. A paranoid Johnny Majors returned and our #4 Vols lost to unranked Arkansas 24-25 at Neyland. If memory serves me correct, I believe that was the game he punted on a third down. Next came a crushing one score loss to the eventual champs, #4 Bama at home. It got even worse when we went to Columbia and lost to a 2-5 Gamecock team. We finished the season 9-3 as Hall of Fame bowl champions. That season was a travesty, all due to Majors being jealous of Fulmer having great success. People can say what they want about "Fulmer stabbing Johnny in the back." So be it. if factual, it was well deserved. In 1992, Majors stabbed ALL of us in the gut!

Yep, as much as I loved Coach Majors, this is the way it played out. If Johnny had been a "team" player and stayed away until fully healthy, that '92 team very well may have won the SEC with a shot at a National Championship. Coach Majors would have come back as our coach the next fall, Fulmer would have been hired away from us and several assistants would have gone with him. Who knows how the mid and late 90"s would have played out.

 

[VOLfrombama]

16 years was plenty of time to rebuild and win a natty. He missed his opportunity in the late 80s and 1990.

 

[dieseldaddy]

He nearly did in 1985, had there been a playoff that year I wouldn’t have bet against us! We had a great team in 1989 as well.GBO!

I think we were the best team the country in 89 and 90. Technically we have a share in 89. One of our 6 unclaimed nattys Lost to bama both years. God I hate those three toe bastards. We could make the that we could kicked butt in a 4 or 12 team playoff in 95. Don't think we would have won the playoffs in 95. Nebraska was a team in 95

 

[EasternVol]

No. He would have never made it past the major roadblock for the Vols in the 90's. Steve Spurrier. Yes, I know Majors beat him 45-3 in their first meeting, but make no mistake, Spurrier would have ended up eating Major's lunch just like he did Fulmer.

Majors had a big advantage over Fulmer in that Spurrier wasn't 40 IQ points ahead of him. He wouldn't have let SOS get in his head and just generally outsmart him like Fulmer did. We'd have won our share against Florida. That said, Majors still would have puckered up every time we played bama.

 

[EasternVol]

It would depend on his state of mind after the heart surgery. If he didn't noticeably drop in mental acuity then yes he well could have.

 

[WoodsmanVol]

No drunks are just more tolerated drug users. You can't depend on them for consistency, honesty, integrity, or getting important things done. If you lack the capacity for Tough Love, they will just drag you down into the consequences of the mire with them. Watched this happen to family after family that didn't do what was necessary after it was painfully obvious what needed to be done. The worst thing to do is to persist in being an enabler when the refuse, reject, and won't accept help. So, nope, beloved Johnny would have won a NC had he remained HC.

 

[HarderKnox59]

The yr he lost to AL 9-6 with a much better team finished me with Majors. No excuse for that lose other than playing over the top conservative.

Played the gators at home the week before. Won 45 to 3. Vols play gator / bama at home back to back this year. Will history repeat itself ?

 

[NighthawkVol]

There is no question in my mind that Tennessee could have and SHOULD have won a title in 1992. The only problem we had was Johnny Majors, Fulmer lead the Vols to a perfect opening of the season. This included an away upset of #14 UGA and a home upset drubbing of #4 Florida 31-14. A paranoid Johnny Majors returned and our #4 Vols lost to unranked Arkansas 24-25 at Neyland. If memory serves me correct, I believe that was the game he punted on a third down. Next came a crushing one score loss to the eventual champs, #4 Bama at home. It got even worse when we went to Columbia and lost to a 2-5 Gamecock team. We finished the season 9-3 as Hall of Fame bowl champions. That season was a travesty, all due to Majors being jealous of Fulmer having great success. People can say what they want about "Fulmer stabbing Johnny in the back." So be it. if factual, it was well deserved. In 1992, Majors stabbed ALL of us in the gut!

No, John Majors gave up a dynasty at Pitt to sacrifice his own legacy to take on the daunting rebuilding of this program. He didn't stab ANYONE in the gut. He sacrificed a lot for Tennessee and if he hadn't, there is no Phillip Fulmer and no 1998 NC. God knows where this program would be. John Majors, on the other hand, would be in the college football HOF as a coach and would probably have won about 3 NCs at Pitt. He'd have been in the Bobby Bowden realm. He gave that up for Tennessee. For our fans to revile him the way SOME of them do is disgusting.

 

[utvols74]

The yr he lost to AL 9-6 with a much better team finished me with Majors. No excuse for that lose other than playing over the top conservative.

I was at that game with my father. Incredibly incompetent coaching. Majors had it in for some players and despite the fact they could help the team, they were in his "dog-house". Greg Amsler comes to mind.

 

[OrangeInKy]

Thought his 1990 team was his most talented. Still couldn't get it done.

89 team was close. Pickens was added in 90 as was Carter, both made huge difference. Better/healthier backfield in 89 imo.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

Coaches were always leaving under Johnny. Almost every year. Fulmer was definitely going to be hired away. His offense was prolific and he was a commodity.

Several other coaches tried to leave after LSU game and Fulmer cooled them off. They most certainly would have left.

Many players were openly talking of transferring out after the season. So that was likely.

Could he have won? Possibly because anything is possible. With Fulmer bring the ace recruiter and his leaving, it's questionable if the same talent levels would have continued.

Dickey and Johnson could see the program falling apart. The board could see it falling apart. Their hands were forced and one of Johnny's former teammates was leading the move.

No one liked having to do it but felt there was no choice.

Fulmer had been there about 10 years. Kippy Brown was there a number of years too.

Which coaches were leaving with Fulmer? The HC job he had in the bag was East Carolina. Which players?
I'm not doubting this story because I've heard it multiple times, though it's been mainly from the Fulmer side.

No one can argue the program was loaded when he took over too. Of course he had a lot to with it, but building a program as HC is much different than helping as an assistant.

 

[LWSVOL]

Fulmer had been there about 10 years. Kippy Brown was there a number of years too.

Which coaches were leaving with Fulmer? The HC job he had in the bag was East Carolina. Which players?
I'm not doubting this story because I've heard it multiple times, though it's been mainly from the Fulmer side.

No one can argue the program was loaded when he took over too. Of course he had a lot to with it, but building a program as HC is much different than helping as an assistant.

Not saying they were going with Fulmer.. they might have went elsewhere.

Lots of talk during early October on the coaching side and the player side about hitting the road post season. If no Majors move had been made, I'm smart enough to know that mid-season talk might or might not have transpired after the season. But with the Majors move happening, then movement didn't have to happen. Makes it all hypothetical with how things played out.

I think the only certainty had Majors been retained is Fulmer would have gotten a head coaching job somewhere. Even the speculation at the time on "where" was just that, speculation. No way to know what options he might have had if not hired at UT.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

Not saying they were going with Fulmer.. they might have went elsewhere.

Lots of talk during early October on the coaching side and the player side about hitting the road post season. If no Majors move had been made, I'm smart enough to know that mid-season talk might or might not have transpired after the season. But with the Majors move happening, then movement didn't have to happen. Makes it all hypothetical with how things played out.

I think the only certainty had Majors been retained is Fulmer would have gotten a head coaching job somewhere. Even the speculation at the time on "where" was just that, speculation. No way to know what options he might have had if not hired at UT.

I hold both Majors and Fulmer in high regard. Plus, they grew up in towns 25 miles apart, which coincidentally is where I grew up. I've seen a little tension, at times among good friends, over the transition.

 

[NEO]

Majors no. Spurrier would have won 3-5 here between 90 and 01.

 

[OrangeTsar]

No doubt Majors enjoyed his bourbon as do a lot of people. That being said, it's sort of a false narrative that he was drunk all the time. He would have never lived up into his mid 80s

Winston Churchill was tipsy most of the day and still managed to win a World War ann hold on to a British Empire

 

[beachvol23]

Thought his 1990 team was his most talented. Still couldn't get it done.

But I think the toughness and physicality was rising in 92 and later. He set the table for Brutus!

 

[OrangeTsar]

I think for all his greatness as a Coach, the game was passing him by at the end of his tenure and I don’t think he was ever going to get that elusive Natty. But he was a great program builder and he brought UT back from irrelevance and laid the foundations for our big run in the 1990s. There would have been no 1998 Natty had Majors not left a vibrant program for Fulmer to run with.
I just hate it that Johnny didn’t get to go out on his own terms though. Volnation owes that man a lot.

 

[#1fulmerite]

Fulmer won a NC when he recruited Manning. The 1998 roster was full of guys who came to Tennessee seeing what they could accomplish watching the Vols 1994-95. Most figured they’d win one with PM at QB.

I doubt Majors could have signed PM so I’d say no. His 1989 & 90 teams were NC quality but injuries, suspensions, etc blew it. That was his highest point regarding talent on the roster.

It is widely known due to Peyton and Fulmer both stating that the success of Shular is what brought him here. Majors was the coach then. But, I do understand what you are saying.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

I think for all his greatness as a Coach, the game was passing him by at the end of his tenure and I don’t think he was ever going to get that elusive Natty. But he was a great program builder and he brought UT back from irrelevance and laid the foundations for our big run in the 1990s. There would have been no 1998 Natty had Majors not left a vibrant program for Fulmer to run with.
I just hate it that Johnny didn’t get to go out on his own terms though. Volnation owes that man a lot.

I'm not sure the game passed him by when I think about what he did with the offense in the early - mid 1980s. He brought in Walt Harris. Harris brought diversity and big play potential with the design of his offense. Fulmer simplified it in a manner that made it even more lethal in 1989. We were freaking loaded. I don't need to list the offensive linemen, running backs and wide receivers. NFL guys both sides of the ball. Johnny was recognized by a few GMs in the league as sending the most developed players.

Addendum: UT was top 5 from the late 80s until early 2000s of players on opening day rosters in the NFL

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

It is widely known due to Peyton and Fulmer both stating that the success of Shular is what brought him here. Majors was the coach then. But, I do understand what you are saying.

The list is long, especially guys who came into the program from 1978-1992, who have said Majors was the reason they came to UT

 

[#1fulmerite]

I'm not sure the game passed him by when I think about what he did with the offense in the early - mid 1980s. He brought in Walt Harris. Harris brought diversity and big play potential with the design of his offense. Fulmer simplified it in a manner that made it even more lethal in 1989. We were freaking loaded. I don't need to list the offensive linemen, running backs and wide receivers. NFL guys both sides of the ball. Johnny was recognized by a few GMs in the league as sending the most developed players

That offense was literally Tennessee’s offense for two decades; with variations of course. On that subject, seems that (Marmie) installed our 4-3 that we used the next twenty years, also. Of course, everyone was running 4-3 so, not sure. But, I am certain that Cutcliff ran Walt’s offense to much success.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

That offense was literally Tennessee’s offense for two decades; with variations of course. On that subject, seems that (Marmie) installed our 4-3 that we used the next twenty years, also. Of course, everyone was running 4-3 so, not sure. But, I am certain that Cutcliff ran Walt’s offense to much success.

Supposedly, Fulmer told Dickey he would win the NC running variations of 8 different plays when he was lobbying for the job

 

[wmcovol]

That offense was literally Tennessee’s offense for two decades; with variations of course. On that subject, seems that (Marmie) installed our 4-3 that we used the next twenty years, also. Of course, everyone was running 4-3 so, not sure. But, I am certain that Cutcliff ran Walt’s offense to much success.

Actually Doug Matthews went to the 4-3 defense in the last half of the 1988 season. Up until then, Tennessee had been a 3-4 defense

 

[HalfullVol]

The question is two fold. Could CJM do well enough during regular season to be in the Championship and could he have beaten the team that actually won that year. Here are the National Champs for several years after CJM's ousting. Which do you like him against?
Colorado/GT would be his best chance, I think. He's not beating those Nebraska teams. Maybe he could have derailed Bama's 92 season?

2000	Oklahoma	BCS
1999	Florida State	BCS
1998	Tennessee	BCS
1997	Michigan, Nebraska	AP, FWAA, NFF, USA/ESPN
1996	Florida	AP, FWAA, NFF,USA/CNN
1995	Nebraska	AP, FWAA, NFF, USA/CNN, UPI
1994	Nebraska	AP, FWAA, NFF, USA/CNN, UPI
1993	Florida St.	AP, FWAA,NFF, USA/CNN, UPI
1992	Alabama	AP, FWAA, NFF, USA/CNN, UPI
1991	Washington, Miami (Fla.)	FWAA, NFF, USA/CNN, UPI,AP
1990	Colorado, Georgia Tech	FWAA, NFF, USA/CNN, AP, UPI
1989	Miami (Fla.)

I'm still in disbelief GaTech "won" a National Championship less than 40 years ago.






she is incredible, right?

 

[HarderKnox59]

But I think the toughness and physicality was rising in 92 and later. He set the table for Brutus!

Oh make not doubt about it. He did rebuild the program. But IMO his 1990 team was loaded on both sides of the ball. A very tough schedule plus Two ties plus losing to bama and ND just not going to get it done in the SEC.