Truth about Majors/ Fulmer Please???

#26
#26
i2amavol said:
I would say that most everything that has been said so far is probably true. I always felt Fulmer was very much an opportunist, but maybe Majors simply forced the issue. I continue to believe that Johnny had an alcohol problem, which was a part of the issue.

Johnny Majors probably did what he told his players not to do. He believed the press clippings that he was bigger than life. He got a little too big for his britches.

Having said all that, they are both(Majors and Fulmer) a big part of Tennessee's history. I don't want to hate on either. They are simply two imperfect people who gave their all for UT.
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Imperfect people, but very good coaches, and hugely devoted to the Vols. Yes. I'm with you.

Go Vols!
 
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#28
#28
I still haven't had a drink since well before surgery. My focus is on getting my health back thru exercise and proper diet.

That being said I can't imagine drinking whiskey and/or taking opioids and trying to recover simultaneously. I would be fighting mad at everything that moved.
 
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#29
#29
VOLINVONORE said:
I was friends with both and went on recruiting visits with both of them and their assistants back when that was legal. I was never aware that the firing was anything other than Major‘s health and Fulmer‘s ability to coach and win football games. I never spoke to Dr, Johnson about the matter.
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That must have been cool to go on the visits with them. I don't know either but that is why I stated IF and that there are 3 sides to every story his, theirs and the truth. I was only 10 at the time Fulmer/Majors debacle.
 
#30
#30
Tman44 said:
I was enrolled at UT for in 1992. I always hear two different stories bout what went on and I would like those that were around back then with me to share your thoughts. I remember these specific things to be 100% true. Majors had a quadruple bypass before the season began. Fulmer was named interim. Fulmer went on the road and beat #14 Georgia. The Vols then beat #4 UF and others and ended up the #4 ranked team. Majors comes back and loses to a God awful Arkansas team that was earlier beat up by the Citadel. We then lay an egg at home and lose to Bama 17-10, for our 7th consecutive loss vs the tide. Next week we go to SC and get beat by another awful team. This is the time we hear that Majors will retire and Phil is to take over.

I have heard different people vociferously push two different stories about why this came to pass.

1. Fulmer was THE hot coaching candidate that year. He made it clear to the powers that be that if they didn't hire him he would bolt for Texas. Fulmer worked behind the scenes and planted the knife in Majors back.

2. Majors had demanded a large pay raise before the season and continued to push the issue with then President Joe Johnson. Johnson had lost all faith in Majors as a coach, but more so, questioned his metal stability. The on-field debacles were the last straw for Johnson. Johnson decided it was time for the change and did just that.

Which is True? Some of both? None at all? I know we have a very knowledgeable community here and I would really like to hear what others have to say. Thank you in advance.
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The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle........
It’s all according who you you talk to.
 
#31
#31
I heard Auburn was coming after Fulmer after they fired Pell. Majors wanted to be the highest paid SEC coach and his ego butted with Joe Johnson. Woodruff and his booster cronies were anti-Majors and may have also been an influence in the background-- that was the reason Majors wasn't hired in '70 when Dickey left-- the worst decision in Vol FB history. I worked in the AD part-time in school and was around Majors on the practice field, and I've never seen a more intense coach-- he was not afraid to get in a player or coach's face-- that's why he probably wasn't too popular with the assistants coming back. Looking back now after being a fan since '66, I really think UT would've been better off keeping Majors another decade because the Bear stepped down in the early 90's and Johnny would have been Dean of SEC coaches and probably would have won a NC or two. He had hired Cutcliff, and could have coached ten more years and handed it off to him. Fulmer rode Cutcliff to a NC, but it all fell apart after he left, and Fulmer has spent the last 15 years trying to justify himself as a legend, and failed twice as coach and AD. Majors would have handled a transition to retirement much better. I think when Majors was cut loose, we lost a strong link to our past heritage of the Neyland era, which Majors was a big part of. Fulmer became the symbol of the anti-Majors faction, and left us with a garbage dump twice.
 
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#33
#33
tenor.gif
 
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#36
#36
Well I've been in the same room with them at the same time and never a bad word spoke between them atleast in front of me...I asked this question to coach Fulmer I'd say about 20 years ago give or take and what he told me was the players wanted him as HC and when Coach Majors was ready to come back the team wasn't happy about it and alot of them went to Dickey and voiced their frustrations, Fulmer told me he feels like coach Majors feels as if he stabbed him in the back to get the HC gig when it was the players that went to Dickey...obviously this is his version, I'm sure Majors has his version..so probably somewhere in the middle lies the truth
 
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#38
#38
Tman44 said:
I was enrolled at UT for in 1992. I always hear two different stories bout what went on and I would like those that were around back then with me to share your thoughts. I remember these specific things to be 100% true. Majors had a quadruple bypass before the season began. Fulmer was named interim. Fulmer went on the road and beat #14 Georgia. The Vols then beat #4 UF and others and ended up the #4 ranked team. Majors comes back and loses to a God awful Arkansas team that was earlier beat up by the Citadel. We then lay an egg at home and lose to Bama 17-10, for our 7th consecutive loss vs the tide. Next week we go to SC and get beat by another awful team. This is the time we hear that Majors will retire and Phil is to take over.

I have heard different people vociferously push two different stories about why this came to pass.

1. Fulmer was THE hot coaching candidate that year. He made it clear to the powers that be that if they didn't hire him he would bolt for Texas. Fulmer worked behind the scenes and planted the knife in Majors back.

2. Majors had demanded a large pay raise before the season and continued to push the issue with then President Joe Johnson. Johnson had lost all faith in Majors as a coach, but more so, questioned his metal stability. The on-field debacles were the last straw for Johnson. Johnson decided it was time for the change and did just that.

Which is True? Some of both? None at all? I know we have a very knowledgeable community here and I would really like to hear what others have to say. Thank you in advance.
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I was told by 2 different VFL’s that I had a work relationship with at one time, that Fulmer was in fact the hot, up and comer in the college ranks and he knew he had options but wanted the Tennessee job. With that said, Fulmer threatened to take the Clemson job and take coach Cut and Heath Shuler with him. Factor that into the response he got from the team that year, him being sought after by other programs and Majors’ health and you have what is now known as the Majors/Fulmer saga.
TIFWIW.
GBO!!
 
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#39
#39
NO SIR EEE said:
I have always heard that Majors demanded to be the highest paid coach in The SEC and Dickey told him no. Majors threw an office supply object at Dickey and then Majors was fired the very next day.
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“Office supply object“? That covers a wide range. Obviously a lot of difference between throwing a paper clip vs throwing a typewriter. So which extreme was closer here? 😄
 
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#41
#41
First of all, Fulmer wasn't going to Texas. He had an offer from East Carolina in early 1992. It was RUMORED that he had talked to both Auburn and Clemson. He did say he would take some assistants during the time he met with JOE Johnson after Majors came back from medical leave. It's only speculation that Cutcliffe was one of them. That he was openly seeking the job with Majors still at the helm and threatening to take assistants with him was quite unusual, and many thought this was less than ethical.
 
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#42
#42
To be fair to Fulmer, if he stabbed Majors in the back it’s bc Johnny put the knife in his hand.
 
#44
#44
DaddyChad said:
To be fair to Fulmer, if he stabbed Majors in the back it’s bc Johnny put the knife in his hand.
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Johnny made his own bed, but he certainly didn't put the knife in Fulmer's hand. My goodness, Fulmer was his top assistant. Majors never dreamed Fulmer would seek the job behind his back. Make no mistake, Fulmer chose to pick up the knife
 
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#45
#45
NO SIR EEE said:
I have always heard that Majors demanded to be the highest paid coach in The SEC and Dickey told him no. Majors threw an office supply object at Dickey and then Majors was fired the very next day.
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"Office supply object?" - before all of this political correctness began, we used to call them "staplers," but I recognize that term is likely offensive to anything associated with joining or holding papers together. "Lord, I apologize for saying "stapler" ........."
 
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#46
#46
Race City Vol said:
The plan was to have Fulmer be the interim the whole season. Back then, that surgery was much more complicated than it is now. After Fulmer beat Georgia and Florida, Majors let his ego get the best of him and showed up at the athletic facility on Monday. He didn’t even call Dickey, he just declared himself back. He messed up the team chemistry and sealed his own fate.
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I was fortunate to have a legit relationship with Doug Dickey (and Zibby), back during his tenure. I met coach Dickey in ‘85, as he had invited my mother and myself to his office the morning of the AU game that year. Bo Jackson took himself out of the game late 3rd Q, as Mark Hovanic and the rest of the Vol D punished him from the kick. I mention this to simply state that I was around the program during coach Majors and subsequently coach Fulmer’s admin. I can say that from what I recall, the above statement is spot on, as Phil had things rolling, and Majors shows up way ahead of schedule to take back the reigns, and the rest is history. Phil did not need to “stab” CJM in the back, as many quote as gospel (Majors ran himself out given the unique circumstances that year).
 
#47
#47
GAVol said:
That's a very accurate timeline IMO. The only other thing I remember is that after Fulmer started 4-0 and Majors just showed back up out of the blue, the coaching staff was in turmoil with guys literally ready to walk away at halftime against LSU. Majors was never easy to deal with but apparently became unpredictable and just mean after the surgery. I'm sure it was in part due to all the pain, rehab etc that he was dealing with. I think everybody from administration to the coaching staff just eventually had enough and we finally lost enough games that a move was made.
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One thing I forgot to mention was the issues in the program went back to the previous season. The '91 season ended in Tempe at the Fiesta Bowl with Tennessee playing Penn State. Tennessee had dominated the first half but only led 17-7 due to a Dale Carter fumble on the opening KO and several other miscues by the offense. Majors got into it with Carter and Carl Pickens in the locker room and many of the players didnt want to play the second half. Assistant coaches had to plead with the players to go back out in which Penn State dominated winning 42-17 I believe. That scene was not far removed from the memory of the UT brass when some of the same issues began to arise in '92.
 
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#49
#49
Roy Exum: The Vols’ Darkest Days

A lot of this squares with what my father related to me. In Mr. Exum’s version he leaves out a story I’ve been told about The Peabody Hotel, but he clearly states in this piece he was not there, he was covering another game.

Tifwiw .
 
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#50
#50
VOLINVONORE said:
I was friends with both and went on recruiting visits with both of them and their assistants back when that was legal. I was never aware that the firing was anything other than Major‘s health and Fulmer‘s ability to coach and win football games. I never spoke to Dr, Johnson about the matter.
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I was friends with a member of the BOT at that time. He alluded to some incidents of Johnny getting pulled over in a state of inebriation and the local cops giving him a ride home. That is nice to keep it out of the press, but the Administration was tired of the exposure that was Johnny Majors at the time. Many of the items listed in several of the comments herein contributed, but the decision was made to move on. Phil had little to do with that, but he was proving himself at just the right time.
 
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