Article:Johnny Majors/Johnny Majors' quote (merged)

#1
orange+white=heaven

orange+white=heaven

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#1
Johnny was at the Huntsville(AL) Quarterback Club Tuesday night.

So was the TFP's Mark Wiedmer...

Johnny Majors wasn’t biting. At least not directly. Never mind that Phillip Fulmer, who some believe betrayed Majors 16 years ago when he succeeded his boss as Tennessee head football coach, is fighting for his coaching life with a 1-3 season record.

Never mind that Majors was ousted midway through the autumn of 1992 despite winning 53 games in his final six seasons. (Just for the record, Fulmer won 52 games in the six seasons before this one.)

So while Majors certainly had his opportunity to bash Fulmer as he spoke to the Huntsville Quarterback Club on Tuesday night, he only once mentioned his former offensive coordinator by name.
Even then, he said only, “I wouldn’t put myself in comparison with Phillip Fulmer on anything. I’m above that.”

That was pretty much right after he declared, “What’s happening there now I’m not going to get into.”

And he mostly didn’t. He talked about his childhood up the road in Lynchburg, Tenn. He talked about his football coach father, Shirley, and his grand mother, Elizabeth. He talked about the national championship he won at Pittsburgh and being the youngest head coach in the country when he took the Iowa State job in the mid-1960s at the age of 32.

He told the crowd of 200 or so that Tony Dorsett, his Heisman Trophy running back at Pittsburgh, was the best four-year player he ever coached and that former UT quarterback Tony Robinson was “the most outstanding talent I ever coached at quarterback.”

Majors even talked about losing the 1956 Heisman Trophy to Paul Hornung by the narrowest margin (at that time) in history, a defeat that stung many Big Orange fans for the simple reason that Notre Dame — where Hornung starred — finished 2-8 while UT went 10-0.

“Back in 1979, when Notre Dame came to Knoxville,” Majors said, “Paul was doing radio and television work for the Irish and he wanted to interview me for a segment. At the end of interview he said he wanted me to say something to all the thousands of people who thought I should have won the Heisman instead of him.
“I said, ‘No, Paul, I thought Jim Brown (who finished fourth) should have won it.’”

But every now and then Tuesday night, Majors brought up his 16 years in Knoxville, where he again resides.
“We moved back 13 months ago,” he said. “Moved back to the same neighborhood. In fact, we moved right across the street from where we lived before.”

But it’s what happened before that can still make Majors boil.

“You mean the season of my ignominious demise?” Majors said with a grin. “The season when, while I was recovering from my heart surgery, a few people whom I won’t name were operating on my back.”

We repeat, of course, that what’s happening there now he’s not getting into.

“I’m not going to say what I hear,” Majors said. “I’m not going to get into that. I have nothing to offer. I’m not in a supervisory position. But they (Fulmer’s staff) had success early because of the program we left them.”
I
t’s never that simple. Yes, Fulmer’s first seven seasons (72-14) were far better than his last eight (71-31). But Majors never won more than nine games his last three years, even if he did win back-to-back SEC titles in 1989 and 1990.

Did Fulmer hasten his exit? Probably. But no one knows for sure and Majors’ insistence on returning too quickly from open-heart surgery left him vulnerable.

“That was, by far, the most traumatic thing that ever happened to me in my professional life,” he said. “It was a complete shock. I was promised a new seven-year contract. I was lied to.”

So given all that, and Fulmer’s current struggles, isn’t there anything Majors would like to say about the current Vols coach.

Said the former coach: “Frankly, I think (defensive coordinator) John Chavis has saved his job for 10 years.”
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#4
#4
Johnny can always stir the pot with a grin these days. He must be loving all of this for Fulmer right now.
 
#7
#7
rexvol said:
good to see Johnny take the high road
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I agree.
I am not the biggest Majors fan in the world - but I do respect him.
I hope whenever the next regime comes in they will honor him more often and have involved with the program.
ala bernie king.
 
#8
#8
Q: Is changing quarterbacks a challenge for other offensive players?
CLAWSON: “Yeah, but it’s not like we’re in a rhythm now. So it’s not like you’re disrupting something that’s going really well. We need a little disruption right now, and then we need a spark and we need to get things going.”
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I really like Dave Clawson.
 
#10
#10
Johnny needed to step aside, it just didnt need to go down the way it did. Johnny brought the program up, but he just couldnt quite get us to the elite level. Phil did do that, but the game has passed him by and he refuses to admit it.
 
#11
#11
His Dad was named Shirley?

Holy crap...thats like being a boy named Sue
 
#12
#12
rexvol said:
good to see Johnny take the high road
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High road? Did you miss this?

“The season when, while I was recovering from my heart surgery, a few people whom I won’t name were operating on my back.”

or

“I’m not going to get into that. I have nothing to offer. I’m not in a supervisory position. But they (Fulmer’s staff) had success early because of the program we left them.”

or

“Frankly, I think (defensive coordinator) John Chavis has saved his job for 10 years.”

Yep, that's the high road. And he wasn't going to get into that. :eek:lol:
 
#14
#14
rexvol said:
Johnny needed to step aside, it just didnt need to go down the way it did. Johnny brought the program up, but he just couldnt quite get us to the elite level. Phil did do that, but the game has passed him by and he refuses to admit it.
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agreed 100%
 
#15
#15
Nice to see some love for the Chief!

Great quote about Jim Brown as well.

friggin Hornung...
 
#16
#16
I don't agree that CPF cruised off of Majors program for several years....I think the departure of CDC to ole Miss has had more to do with the slide.
 
#18
#18
The line "But they had success early because of what we left them." is inaccurate and Majors knows it.....Fulmer's best years were in '97-'98 and all of Johnny's signees were long gone by then...It is time for Fulmer to go but let's not revise history to suit that purpose - at the time Fulmer was hired as the full time head coach in December of '92 the two directives from Tennessee fans were to start beating Alabama consistently and win a National Championship...Done.
 
#19
#19
If I had to choose a coach between Majors and Fulmer now, I'd take Majors as quick as you could say "Abracadabra"!
 
#20
#20
rexvol said:
Johnny needed to step aside, it just didnt need to go down the way it did. Johnny brought the program up, but he just couldnt quite get us to the elite level. Phil did do that, but the game has passed him by and he refuses to admit it.
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perfect post rex
 
#21
#21
JagerVol01 said:
The line "But they had success early because of what we left them." is inaccurate and Majors knows it.....Fulmer's best years were in '97-'98 and all of Johnny's signees were long gone by then...It is time for Fulmer to go but let's not revise history to suit that purpose - at the time Fulmer was hired as the full time head coach in December of '92 the two directives from Tennessee fans were to start beating Alabama consistently and win a National Championship...Done.
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Agreed! Done!....Now that Fulmer has fulf:mf_surrender:illed his commitment to UT he should leave with his head held high....or low...or well who cares he should just leave!
 
#22
#22
A real class act.

I remember the philosopher side of the man as well.When talking about his players getting married,he used to tell them a woman should always lift you up,improve your position.Not drag you down. :good!:

I still reflect on his ouster on occasion.:no:
 
#23
#23
“You mean the season of my ignominious demise?” Majors said with a grin. “The season when, while I was recovering from my heart surgery, a few people whom I won’t name were operating on my back.”
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I've heard 3 interviews of Majors since he's moved back to Knoxville... and he's used that phrase everytime he's had a chance.
 
#24
#24
Poor old fart still hasn't recovered from that back operation. Back then the cry was "Beat Bama". Majors could not do it
 
#25
#25
rexvol said:
Johnny needed to step aside, it just didnt need to go down the way it did. Johnny brought the program up, but he just couldnt quite get us to the elite level. Phil did do that, but the game has passed him by and he refuses to admit it.
Click to expand...

Great post Rex, that puts it all in proper perspective... one of the best summay post of modern UT HFC history I've read on the VN.
 
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