Majors was sub .500 after 4 years at Tennessee after a losing record in his 4th season at Tennessee....actually had a worse record his first 4 years than the last 4 seasons of Bill Battle that got him fired.
Majors was wildly inconsistent his first 13 years at Tennessee....he’d have 1 good season followed by one average to bad season, year after year. Actually started 0-6 in 1988, his 13th year as Tennessee head coach....nothing about that screams that he was a smarter coach than much any other average SEC coach, especially a HOF coach like Fulmer.
Majors did a great job at Pittsburgh, the first time, when he won a National title with Tony Dorset and the Panthers. Full marks for that, no doubt. But his second stint at Pittsburgh was a disaster....12-32 in 4 seasons.
Perhaps the best comparison about who was the “smarter coach” is 1992.....Majors was ill to begin the season so Fulmer was the interim....started the year 3-0, including a win vs Florida....Majors returned the next 8 games, went 5-3...Fulmer coached the last game and won it to finish 4-0 as the interim, compared to Majors who, with the same players and coaches, went 5-3. So, who was smarter that year?
As far as 1985, it was magical...TRob was awesome until the knee injury and the team rallied around Dickey. Majors did a great job that year as unheard of players like Chris White and Jeff Powell came out of nowhere to play great. Again, great job there by Majors.........but how was 1998 any less miraculous and how was the job done by Fulmer any less “smart”? They were predicted to finish 3rd in the East after losing Peyton and a slew of other top players to the NFL and went on to be the best team in the country.
And the point you wanted to make regarding TRob vs Tee? Please recall that the team had to overcome Tee’s play several times throughout the season....9-26 vs Syracuse, 64 yards passing vs Florida ...... 10-27 vs Arkansas after throwing 4 straight incompletions on what should’ve been the last drive of the game. Thank God for Billy Ratliffe, our OL and Travis Henry who went on to do something Tee couldn’t, which is win the game at the end.
So yeah, as much as I love Tee and recognize that he was clutch at times in 1988, there were also games like I mentioned where the team had to overcome Tee’s poor play. So, I do indeed believe the 1998 team could’ve won the games needed to win a NATIONAL TITLE, not just an SEC TITLE like in 1985, had we lost Tee at QB like the ‘85 team lost TRob.
Final point....Majors had the program in very good shape, partly with Fulmer’s help as his OC, when he was fired in 1992. But let’s recognize that Fulmer took it over and took it to a level far higher than Majors ever did in his 16 years. At the end of the day, Majors won 64.5% of his games at Tennessee and had his highest finish at #4 in the country....Fulmer won 74.3% of his games and his highest finish at #1 with a national title, something Tennessee hadn’t done since 1951.
I KNOW that the entire discussion is subjective...and that Majors was an intolerable a.s.s. his last few years at UT....BUT...
1) The '85 team had a 5th yr Sr. backing up Robinson......the '98 team had Burney Veazey......
You'll NEVER convince anyone that the '98 team would've won the SEC with Burney Veazey. Or anyone who has any reasonable intelligence.
Your stated opinion on this point is extremely disappointing....and not rational.
That '98 team was special--but not good enough to overcome the loss of T. Martin.
2) You guys "cherry pick" your portrayal of the stats between Majors and Fulmer.
Majors' first 8 years were 55%.....his last years were just short of 71%...
I do not contest the overall win % between the coaches.
Nor do I contest the FACT you point out about Majors 1st 4 yrs were worse than Battle's last 4.
BUT PHIL'S LAST 4 WERE WORSE THAN BATTLE'S LAST 4.....more on that in a moment.
But you do MISS the overall point thru your cherry picking.....
MAJORS continued working and hired the right staff to improve recruiting and game performances.
MAJORS decisions took the program from a dismal state to winning 70% of the games over his last 8 years.
Unless they change record-keeping to attribute shares of W/L's to assistant coaches....
MAJORS gets the credit for both the W's and L's over those last 8 years.
FULMER took the team JOHNNY OVERSAW to new heights---no one would dispute that.
I am old enough to remember the sheer exhilaration about the program Fulmer brought.
And I am in NO WAY attempting to throw any shade at CPF.
However, he took the team from 70% to almost 85%....and then back DOWN again....
The program's status was BARELY above Battle's shambles when CPF left.
You guys rightly assert Majors' "quirky" years of '86 and '88.
But you fail to acknowledge Fulmer's 2005 and 2008.
Also...."CRICKETS" chirping concerning the inability of CPF to win anything without CUTCLIFF's presence.
Nor do you recognize MAJORS' superiority in evaluating and hiring coaches as a HC when compared to CPF.
Fulmer was 29-21 in his last 4 years---that's 58%--and puts his LAST 4 YEARS WORSE THAN BILL BATTLE'S!!!! (28-17-2= 59.6%)
So--while Fulmer's overall win % was better than Majors'----he managed to take the program back below Bill Battle's status.
WOW---I've never really done the research to actually quantify how bad CPF was in the end....I'm shocked at those numbers!
You know---they sent a moving van to Battle's house for being that bad.
Let those numbers just settle in for a moment.
3) Mentioning MAJORS' failure in his 2nd tenure at PITT is LAUGHABLE in an attempt to prove Fulmer's superiority to him.
To wit---CPF never had to build anything from scraps....And exactly how old was Johnny when he went back to Pitt?
4) The Pitt Panthers went on to 50-9 record in the 5 years after Majors left.
We already know the depth of the ditch into which CPF steered the program.
Finally---I'm not attempting to attack CPF....he has a NC and 2 SEC crowns as a HC.
Majors has a NC and 3 SEC crowns on his resume....and beat the SEC champion by 24 points to win his NC.
I'm just giving the EVIDENCE and an answer to the question you asked about how I quantify my statements.
I'm okay if you or anyone else is not convinced that my opinion is correct. It's only my opinion.