I always liked the guy and sorta think he was done dirty. Could he have won a NC if the coup hadn't taken place?
I suspect yes.
If Majors had stayed, Fulmer goes to Clemson. He takes Cutcliffe with him and possibly a few others.
But one thing that Majors could do that Fulmer could not...he recognized great assistant coaching talent and brought them on board. He'd have replaced those guys with other good coaches. And the new blood might've been good.
Getting Heath Shuler was huge. It led to Tennessee signing more top rated QBs. If Fulmer leaves and Shuler still has a great 1993, I think Tennessee would have continued to sign top notch QBs. Shuler always credited Majors with being the reason he signed with Tennessee.
The variables are:
1) Would Majors have broken the Bama curse? I suspect so, since Bama went downhill.
2) Would Majors have still brought in top talent like Fulmer did? That would have been tough, but recruiting was on an upward trend. The young talent Fulmer inherited was better than any other during the Majors era. I supsect the answer to this question depends largely on who Majors hired as assistants after Fulmer and Cutcliffe left.
3) Would Majors have settled for a DC like Chavis and a DB coach like Slade? I'm guessing no. The programs would probably have better defensive coaching.
4) Would Majors have the Spurrier hangup like Fulmer did? I don't think so. Majors personality wasn't the type to be intimidated by a Spurrier like Fulmer seemed to be (and it bled down to players). Doesn't mean he wouldn't have still lost a few to Spurrier, but I don't think Majors teams were going to play uptight and beat themselves against Florida like Fulmer teams so often did.
So I think Majors would have continued the upward trajectory and won a Natty. And he might not have blown as many other opportunities to win the SEC as Fulmer did because of his Spurrier hangup. But who knows.