Majors axed within two years of back/back SEC Championships

#76
#76
brg72 said:
If you are talking about 1988, Spurrier was the coach of Duke then. Duke finished 7-3-1 that season also. The 89 season when UT beat Duke is when they won the ACC.
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I believe he means 1982.
 
#78
#78
utvolpj said:
I believe he means 1982.
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Duke finished a modest 6-5 that season and had Ben Bennett as qb, who As a junior in 1982, become the first player in the ACC in 30 years to pass for over 3,000 yards with 3,033. Chosen as the ACC “Player of the Year” and selected as the All-ACC QB.
 
#79
#79
allvol said:
The Braves made the playoffs for like 14 years but only won 1 championship. However, they had a shot every year. The past 2 seasons, they were left out of the playoffs and have had no shot.

Very similar, in college football.... if a fan's team has a shot, even an outside shot, in November.... there is hope. The Vols have no hope this season. Relegated to dropping the national championship goal and replacing it with an SEC championship goal. There is still hope for that.
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Right now i'd take that. Sec championship would be nice. I can't see us beating lsu for it. Unless we start pumping some roids or something.
 
#80
#80
Liper said:
1. Agree completely. That was unfathomable to lose to BAMA that year. If I remember, we completed 2 passes for 13 yards to that collection of NFL wideouts plus good role players...Pickens, Harper, Morgan, Moore, et al.
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i'll third that contention. finding a way to lose to that bama team, given the talent the vols had, was a FUBAR masterpiece. that is probably the worst i've ever felt at neyland -- even tops the vandy and n texas st losses.

imo majors' overall career on the hill was mediocre. he was kept on as coach so long because of the family legacy.

it is a mystery to me why he was so successful at both iowa state and pitt but then not at UT.
 
#81
#81
tm3 said:
i'll third that contention. finding a way to lose to that bama team, given the talent the vols had, was a FUBAR masterpiece. that is probably the worst i've ever felt at neyland -- even tops the vandy and n texas st losses.

imo majors' overall career on the hill was mediocre. he was kept on as coach so long because of the family legacy.

it is a mystery to me why he was so successful at both iowa state and pitt but then not at UT.
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Well this is one time I will take up for Majors. He inherited a crappy team from Battle and it took him a few year to build us back up. The most noticable year was 85. But even Majors grew inconsistant. 86 we should have contended for the National Championship (we had about 18 returning starters), but he flopped. We came back in 87 with a relatively young team and had a great season, then we flopped in 88.

I do take my hat off to Majors...he did have us back at the SEC top or at least in the hunt. But his inconsistancy, losing to Bama and losing 3 of 5 in '92 was his undoing.
 
#82
#82
sure, i didn't expect much the first few years until johnny got his recruiting going. but it took him almost 10 years to win an SECC. and in those days we didn't have the relative parity that we see now due to the scholarship limits.
 
#83
#83
tm3 said:
sure, i didn't expect much the first few years until johnny got his recruiting going. but it took him almost 10 years to win an SECC. and in those days we didn't have the relative parity that we see now due to the scholarship limits.
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True. I am of the belief that maybe some other coach would have us winning (ballgames, if not championships) as soon as he took over in 77. But JM had just come off the MNC at Pitt and if we were going to get him, we had to get him then. It was a "feel good" story...Johnny comes marching home to save UT.

The first hint of trouble came right at the end of the Don DeVoe years...anybody remember the bumper stickers that read "GO JOHNNY GO!!! AND TAKE DEVOE WITH YOU"
 
#84
#84
The idea that a team with Jeff Francis at quarterback should have contended for the national title is laughable.
 
#85
#85
orangeblooded_2 said:
hmmm Funny that article doesnt mention the 3-0 start Fulmer had us at when JM returned from his surgery, only to lose 3 of the next 5. It also didnt mention that JM led us to two embarassing losses (Arkansas and So. Car and his usual loss to bama) to upstart SEC teams (thier first season in the league).
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Do you remember the late Battle years (5 years we didn't make a bowl.) Majors took over and gave respect back to TN. With JM as coach teams respected us, we had a chance to win. With Fulmer that respect is gone. Fulmer recruited of the heals of Majors success. He rode Peyton for 4 years:making his W-L record lengendary. We won a National Championship after Peyton left. Recruiting was at an all time high for TN. Fulmer lived off this. From 1993 to 2005 Tn. sent a total of 72 players to the NFL, most of any college.
This being the case where is all the championships, ie USC. Fulmer's recruiting relies heavey on the sucess of the team. With out Majors tuff nose tradition I am afraid Fulmer has nothing to use when recruiting. Living off the sucess of the past are long gone. Tennessee is like the titanic,they new it was not going to make it but they stuck with it.
next five years with the current staff!?!?!?!
08' 5-7 no bowl
09:' 7-5 tidy bowl
10:'5-6 no bowl
11:7-5 no bowl
 
#86
#86
ARDENTZEPHR said:
Do you remember the late Battle years (5 years we didn't make a bowl.) Majors took over and gave respect back to TN. With JM as coach teams respected us, we had a chance to win. With Fulmer that respect is gone. Fulmer recruited of the heals of Majors success. He rode Peyton for 4 years:making his W-L record lengendary. We won a National Championship after Peyton left. Recruiting was at an all time high for TN. Fulmer lived off this. From 1993 to 2005 Tn. sent a total of 72 players to the NFL, most of any college.
This being the case where is all the championships, ie USC. Fulmer's recruiting relies heavey on the sucess of the team. With out Majors tuff nose tradition I am afraid Fulmer has nothing to use when recruiting. Living off the sucess of the past are long gone. Tennessee is like the titanic,they new it was not going to make it but they stuck with it.
next five years with the current staff!?!?!?!
08' 5-7 no bowl
09:' 7-5 tidy bowl
10:'5-6 no bowl
11:7-5 no bowl
Click to expand...

09 is definately 8-4 and the Outback Bowl.

:good!:
 
#87
#87
ARDENTZEPHR said:
Do you remember the late Battle years (5 years we didn't make a bowl.) Majors took over and gave respect back to TN. With JM as coach teams respected us, we had a chance to win. With Fulmer that respect is gone. Fulmer recruited of the heals of Majors success. He rode Peyton for 4 years:making his W-L record lengendary. We won a National Championship after Peyton left. Recruiting was at an all time high for TN. Fulmer lived off this. From 1993 to 2005 Tn. sent a total of 72 players to the NFL, most of any college.
This being the case where is all the championships, ie USC. Fulmer's recruiting relies heavey on the sucess of the team. With out Majors tuff nose tradition I am afraid Fulmer has nothing to use when recruiting. Living off the sucess of the past are long gone. Tennessee is like the titanic,they new it was not going to make it but they stuck with it.
next five years with the current staff!?!?!?!
08' 5-7 no bowl
09:' 7-5 tidy bowl
10:'5-6 no bowl
11:7-5 no bowl
Click to expand...


Your spelling is much better today. :good!:
 
#89
#89
tm3 said:
sure, i didn't expect much the first few years until johnny got his recruiting going. but it took him almost 10 years to win an SECC. and in those days we didn't have the relative parity that we see now due to the scholarship limits.
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Majors took over a bad UT team. They hadn't made had a bowl in 5 years. It takes a littke time. We beat a # 1 miami team in a bowl 35-7. We also stopped a #4 auburn team with Bo jackson. what has fulmer done. We were 12-0 and underdogs to a Fl St. team who had lost there stsrting QB. Majors teams had respect. Fulmers teams do not.
 
#90
#90
ARDENTZEPHR said:
Majors took over a bad UT team. They hadn't made had a bowl in 5 years. It takes a littke time. We beat a # 1 miami team in a bowl 35-7. We also stopped a #4 auburn team with Bo jackson. what has fulmer done. We were 12-0 and underdogs to a Fl St. team who had lost there stsrting QB. Majors teams had respect. Fulmers teams do not.
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If Majors' teams had so much respect, why was the 1985 team not the favorites against the Hurricanes?
 
#91
#91
ARDENTZEPHR said:
Majors took over a bad UT team. They hadn't made had a bowl in 5 years. It takes a littke time. We beat a # 1 miami team in a bowl 35-7. We also stopped a #4 auburn team with Bo jackson. what has fulmer done. We were 12-0 and underdogs to a Fl St. team who had lost there stsrting QB. Majors teams had respect. Fulmers teams do not.
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If you remember, that third string quarterback beat Florida.

That has to amount to something........
 
#92
#92
ARDENTZEPHR said:
Do you remember the late Battle years (5 years we didn't make a bowl.) Majors took over and gave respect back to TN. With JM as coach teams respected us, we had a chance to win. With Fulmer that respect is gone. Fulmer recruited of the heals of Majors success. He rode Peyton for 4 years:making his W-L record lengendary. We won a National Championship after Peyton left. Recruiting was at an all time high for TN. Fulmer lived off this. From 1993 to 2005 Tn. sent a total of 72 players to the NFL, most of any college.
This being the case where is all the championships, ie USC. Fulmer's recruiting relies heavey on the sucess of the team. With out Majors tuff nose tradition I am afraid Fulmer has nothing to use when recruiting. Living off the sucess of the past are long gone. Tennessee is like the titanic,they new it was not going to make it but they stuck with it.
next five years with the current staff!?!?!?!
08' 5-7 no bowl
09:' 7-5 tidy bowl
10:'5-6 no bowl
11:7-5 no bowl
Click to expand...

Well, I was in the middle of the battle years when I was first introduced to UT football (about 6 or 7 years old). I do know that he gradually took an SEC Championship team from Dickey and gradually produced less and less.

And I really hate to do this but Battle only had 2 years where he didn't go to a bowl (75 and 76). Not sure where you got 5 from. If you'd like the bowls and the scores from them during the Battle years, I can provide them for you.

BB needed to go I do agree with that. And I am glad we laid hold of JM. However, JM's early years were far from successful. He brought us about as much respectability as a 4-7 or a 5-6 team can. His first bowl game wasn't until the Garden State bowl in 81, after we had our butts handed to us in the first 2 games of the year (against UGA and So. Cal). We lost those first 2 combined 87-7. STill want to talk about the "respect" JM was bringing us?

The rest of the 80s were filled with JM Hiccups. Good season, bad season, good season, bad season...he never really got a foothold on putting us at the top and KEEPING us there.

The 90 and 91 seasons he seemed to turn that corner. But we all know what happened in 92. Just as it was time for BB to leave, it was time for JM to leave. And to be honest, If PF doesnt get us at least to Atlanta, I think it will be time for him to leave.

But as the original post of the thread implied, JM nowhere near had us on top of anything.
 
#94
#94
justingroves said:
If Majors' teams had so much respect, why was the 1985 team not the favorites against the Hurricanes?
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Since when did Vegas oddsmakers deem teams unrespectable or respectable? I think if you beat the number 1 team in the country twice in one season is respectable.
 
#95
#95
orangeblooded_2 said:
Well this is one time I will take up for Majors. He inherited a crappy team from Battle and it took him a few year to build us back up. The most noticable year was 85. But even Majors grew inconsistant. 86 we should have contended for the National Championship (we had about 18 returning starters), but he flopped. We came back in 87 with a relatively young team and had a great season, then we flopped in 88.

I do take my hat off to Majors...he did have us back at the SEC top or at least in the hunt. But his inconsistancy, losing to Bama and losing 3 of 5 in '92 was his undoing.
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What Majors inherited was a program that had not had a losing season in the 12 previous seasons plus Johnny signed the no. 1 recruiting class in the nation as soon as he got there. That recruiting class finished with a 5-6 record in 1980.
 
#96
#96
ARDENTZEPHR said:
Majors took over a bad UT team. They hadn't made had a bowl in 5 years. It takes a littke time. We beat a # 1 miami team in a bowl 35-7. We also stopped a #4 auburn team with Bo jackson. what has fulmer done. We were 12-0 and underdogs to a Fl St. team who had lost there stsrting QB. Majors teams had respect. Fulmers teams do not.
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1) 5 years without a bowl???? wrong

2) The 1985 team tied UCLA, lost to Florida, tied Ga Tech, and almost lost to Wake Forest

3) The 1998 team won 13 games with a new starting quarterback, a backup running back, and still beat 6 ranked opponents (4 in the top 10). The fact that Florida State had won 7 straight conference championships and were national championship contenders every season during the '90s probably had something to do with gamblers putting the line where they did.

4) Johnny Majors had instant talent, although young, when he got to Tennessee due to his recruiting prowess and no. 1 recruiting class.


Bill Battle
1970 11-1, Sugar Bowl (win)
1971 10-2, Liberty Bowl (win)
1972 10-2, Bluebonnet Bowl (win)
1973 8-4, Gator Bowl (loss)
1974 7-3-2, Liberty Bowl (win)
1975 7-5, no bowl... beat Hawaii in December
1976 6-5, no bowl

Johnny Majors first 4 seasons
1977 4-7, no bowl
1978 5-5-1, no bowl
1979 7-5, Bluebonnet Bowl (loss)
1980 5-6, no bowl
 
#97
#97
brg72 said:
Since when did Vegas oddsmakers deem teams unrespectable or respectable? I think if you beat the number 1 team in the country twice in one season is respectable.
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Read what Ardentzephr had written about the 98 Vol team being underdogs to FSU. He said JM coached teams got respect and were not underdogs to teams they played in bowl games.

There was no reason why UT should have been favorites to Miami that year. But Ardentzephr says JM coached teams got "respect". I was trying to figure out what he meant
 
#98
#98
2) The 1985 team tied UCLA, lost to Florida, tied Ga Tech, and almost lost to Wake Forest



To defend the 85 team. Just looking at the score does not tell the story. The wake game was not close. it was 31-14 with two minutes left in the game and wake got a couple of mop up scores. I was at that game.
Like the UCLA game. Tennessee's gave up points late in the 4th. They had a 26-10 lead and UCLA cae back to tie. However, the defense improved drastically at the end of the season.

The Ga tech was close because this was the game after the bama game and had to change the entire offense scheme for Darry Dickey after the Tony Robinson injury.
 
#99
#99
brg72 said:
2) The 1985 team tied UCLA, lost to Florida, tied Ga Tech, and almost lost to Wake Forest



To defend the 85 team. Just looking at the score does not tell the story. The wake game was not close. it was 31-14 with two minutes left in the game and wake got a couple of mop up scores. I was at that game.
Like the UCLA game. Tennessee's gave up points late in the 4th. They had a 26-10 lead and UCLA cae back to tie. However, the defense improved drastically at the end of the season.

The Ga tech was close because this was the game after the bama game and had to change the entire offense scheme for Darry Dickey after the Tony Robinson injury.
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I know all about the 1985 season. Kelly Ziegler was one of my highschool football coaches.

You're missing what I'm saying.

He said Johnny Majors' coached teams at UT got respect.

He said that CPF coached teams did not get respect, pointing out that the 98 team was an underdog to an FSU team that handled a Florida team that UT squeaked by.

I asked him why, if JM coached teams got so much respect, were they underdogs to Miami.

I know why. It's because Miami was a much better team on paper and ranked higher.

In 98, one could make the argument that FSU was better on paper.
 
#100
#100
Re the 1985 team being an underdog, Darryl Dickey at QB is pretty much all that needs to be said. Our backup QB, however, got the job done and FSU's did not get it done for FSU
 
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