Majors speaks his mind on Finebaum

#77
#77
As he should be. Johnny was run out of his job by a guy who proceeded to win a national title and spend ten years afterwards destroying the program. I'd be mad too if I was him.
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Sounds like you is mad too.
 
#79
#79
Honestly, a lot of what he said is true. He's a little harsher on Fulmer than I would be--I wouldn't say we were "going down" until around 2000-2001--but his assessments are pretty accurate.
 
#80
#80
VolsFanRJ said:
I read and article a while back when Majors spoke out. I wish I could find it. He talked about telling Fulmer stuff that was confidential that got back to Dickey. He also said Dickey told him he had a 7 year contract waiting for him on his desk to sign which never happened and never was mentioned again. If Johnny says Fulmer was one of the reasons for his ouster, then he knows something, IMO.
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I don't like bringing up the past but you have to admit.Majors should have taken the whole year off .We were sitting pretty until he choked the Arkansas game. I think we lost that game 25-24 or 24-23.AND lost to SouthCarolina in a close game also that year.That is why i think Majors was his own worse enemy.:good!:
 
#81
#81
oldsmokey67 said:
I don't like bringing up the past but you have to admit.Majors should have taken the whole year off .We were sitting pretty until he choked the Arkansas game. I think we lost that game 25-24 or 24-23.AND lost to SouthCarolina in a close game also that year.That is why i think Majors was his own worse enemy.:good!:
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I agree, and so does Majors. In the same article I read, he also says he regrets coming back so soon, and he feels like his return was premature.
 
#82
#82
Majors = drunkenness
Fulmer = gluttony
Dooley = ?
Hopefully he doesn't have any of the 7DS.
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#87
#87
BigOrangePassion1 said:
He should be happy they let him come back and coach the 92 season over an undefeated fulmer. That was a national championship caliber team until he showed up.
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I disagree. If Majors had not felt that he was getting railroaded by everyone, he would not have come back so early and UT would have won those 3 games. I do agree that it was a NC caliber team. From 89 to 92 TN was as good as anyone in the nation (except Bama) who we couldn't beat as Fulmer couldn't beat FL but one time during his run from 95 to 98.
 
#88
#88
Johnny Majors was more concerned about keeping the opponents HONEST, even if it meant losing games over it. He is the original inventor of "First down and Up the Middle". CJM never fooled any SEC coach and has no reason or right to be upset at CPF or anyone than himself. The end.
 
#90
#90
I know I'm in the minority here, but I've never really liked Majors. I don't know why, I just never have.

I respect him for what he did for the university, but all the bitterness has really turned me against him.
 
#91
#91
I remember being a young kid and all I wanted was to beat Bama and contend for SEC championships. I dont remember too many under Majors but I remember a bunch under fulmer and if anything stands out in my mind it was the huge sigh of releif when Fulmer took over, beat bama, and ran through the SEC getting "LUCKY" and winning Championships.

Its ironic how when it was Fulmer's time to go we went throught the same thing and now he carries the same "chip". Maybe some coaches just dont know how and when to let go. Its definitely time for Johnny to move on and let go. His old backs gonna give out if he keep carrying that chip.
 
#92
#92
PrimeTime said:
I know I'm in the minority here, but I've never really liked Majors. I don't know why, I just never have.

I respect him for what he did for the university, but all the bitterness has really turned me against him.
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I feel you. Majors thought very highly of himself. Personal experience--1986.
 
#93
#93
Plano Vol said:
If I was to have a few (or none) and got on a interview with Finebaum, it would go something like this;

1) bama sucks
2) you suck because you have the bama taint upon you
3) bama sucks just as much when they are successful as when they are not
4) I abhor bama
5) bama sucks even more than they did at the start of the interview
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This!
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#94
#94
JohnWardForever said:
I feel you. Majors thought very highly of himself. Personal experience--1986.
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Yea, I am not going to get specific but Majors was given every opportunity. He had to go. He could've ridden on the success of his staff if not for his ego.
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#95
#95
When Majors was hired, there were "We've made a Major Change at UT" bumper stickers everywhere.

Before Majors left, all those were gone and we all sported "We've made a Major mistake at UT" stickers.

I was more frustrated with UT Football then than I am now.
 
#96
#96
I appreciate ol' Johnny for everything he did - brought us from pretty far down to a very respectable point. I hate it for him personally, but do think that it was his time to leave when he did.

BUT. Johnny Majors saying someone is a 'superb play caller' is about like Don King saying someone has great hair. :crazy:
 
#97
#97
JohnWardForever said:
Finebaum had Johnny on yesterday, John had just gotten off the golf course; probably had a couple, and let 'er rip. Some of the statements-------

Said UT was coming off the best four years in a row when he was let go.
Called former UT Pres. Joe Johnson a redneck that was jealous of Majors.
Said that Johnson, Fulmer and Dickey were behind his ouster---with a couple more unnamed
Said that UT football had been going down for a long while, and if not for Chavis would have hit bottom long ago.
Said Tennessee was lucky to win the NC in 98---had a lot of breaks go their way.
Doesn't think he and Phil will be visiting anytime soon.
Liked Kiffin, said that staff did the best coaching job he had ever seen last year at Bama--said Lane and Monte were great at utilizing what talent they had--also said LK was a superb play caller. And great with Crompton.
Doesn't blame CLK for "going home"
Thinks Dooley is Smart, nice looking and has the goods to be successful at UT---but must be given time.
Said Vince was a good coach, not great---beat people because he had better players---(Read between the lines-- Herschel) he even mentioned 1980.

Johnny Majors is as ticked as ever.
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everything seems spot on to me, except maybe the redneck president thing, but can't comment on that bcuz I was really young then. Why are people saying he's sounds like a bitter old man?
 
#98
#98
CardassianVol said:
Those were not exact quotes, so don't jump to that conclusion. I'm sure he was happy for the school, but also realized some things about our coaching staff at the time that only became apparent later. Luck was definitely involved. You do remember the Arkansas game? It is still a great achievement to win a BCS title. I wish people didn't feel the need to agree or disagree with every single thing said to take something from comments like his. You could try to understand where he is coming from and appreciate it whether you agree or not.
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If it wasn't full of idiocy, you'd be right. Majors was a failure at UT before he hired Fulmer -- more than a dozen years of mostly mediocrity. From 83 to 88, there was no Bear at Bama, no Dooley at Georgia, Florida on probation, LSU in a swamp, and Majors still couldn't figure out how to put together a whole team that could win a single SEC title on the field (we lost to Florida on the field in '85), without any SEC title game and in a 10-team conference. His offenses sans Fulmer never finished in the top third of the league 1 single time in back-to-back seasons more than 12 years, despite exceptional talent (Johnny did manage how to keep an NFL QB on the bench his whole career at UT, though, while piling up losing seasons early on); his defenses failed to ever have back-to-back top-third performances in the SEC. He had no real recruiting competition a large portion of his career here, yet couldn't translate that talent to consistent wins or quality seasons until he hired Fulmer. We lost to less talented teams all the time under Majors. He's just lucky Tennessee fans were so fair with him after his near dozen years of mediocrity with 1 good season mixed in before 1989.
 
#100
#100
KYSkipper said:
Majors was at Pitt in 1976, what's that got to do with Tennessee firing him?



I believe they tried their dead level best to do so. However it didn't work out. Majors wanted to get back in the saddle post haste and he did.



Johnny Majors and Phillip Fulmer are both Tennessee guys who did good jobs for the University and the program in their own way. Johnny Majors was the best recruiter Tennessee has ever had. Phillip sucked at recruiting. Johnny Majors had a tendency to take a team (ours) that was 4 times better than the opponent talent wise and come out in the game with a scheme we were unfamiliar with in an attempt to stop whatever strength the opponent had. He wasn't the best game coach. If you've got the talent, do what you do best and if they can stop that, you've done all you can do. Fulmer on the other hand was a better game coach. Later in his career he didn't have the talent to run his game against superior opponents because again, he sucked at recruiting.
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Fulmer "sucked at recruiting"? You and Johnny been hitting the bottle again?

Majors' recruiting competition
77-81: Bear at Bama, during his declining years; Dooley at UGA, who was always a better coach than recruiter; Florida soon to be on probation; LSU mostly in a swamp; and nobody else big in the south.
82-88: Bear leaves Bama, Dooley gone from UGA, Florida on probation & LSU disappearing. The easiest recruiting road for UT in its modern football history.
89-92: Fulmer was the lead recruiter on staff, evidenced by the sudden uptick in the quality of recruits from 89-92, with QB like Shuler as high profile recruits won by Fulmer.
93-96: Spurrier at Florida, Mack Brown at North Carolina, but rest of SEC/south relatively open, and Fulmer goes on the best recruiting run in Tennessee history;
97-99: Donnan recruits well at UGA, Spurrier building at Florida, and Bama cheating in Memphis, as SEC recruiting toughens, but we still recruit well;
00-08: Richt at UGA; Spurrier, then Zook (great recruiter), then Meyer at Florida; Saban at LSU, national programs ascendant with Stoops at OU, Brown at Texas, Carroll at cheating USC, Weis for part of that era at Notre Dame recruiting well offensively, Saban returning at the end of that era to Alabama, and we face the toughest recruiting era in Tennessee football with an average recruiting class still in the top-10 range most of the time, though behind our SEC rivals.

Given the recruiting competition, Fulmer was a far better recruiter over his career than Majors was. Majors was a very good recruiter; Fulmer's career was one of the best recruiters in the game, especially in his younger years.
 
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