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10 times Tennessee Vols athletics raised fans hopes too high

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 12: Lane Kiffin, head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers talks in the press conference after a game against the UCLA Bruins on September 12, 2009 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. UCLA beat Tennessee 19-15. (Photo by Joe Murphy/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 12: Lane Kiffin, head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers talks in the press conference after a game against the UCLA Bruins on September 12, 2009 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. UCLA beat Tennessee 19-15. (Photo by Joe Murphy/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Rick Stewart/Allsport/Getty Images
Photo by Rick Stewart/Allsport/Getty Images /

8. Johnny Majors high expectations followed by years of futility in football

Yes, Johnny Majors is one of the five greatest coaches in Tennessee Vols football history. However, he got off to a very rocky start on Rocky Top. When Majors took over the program in 1977, he was coming off a national championship with the Pittsburgh Panthers, and he was returning to his alma mater, where he should’ve won the Heisman as a player in 1956.

A legendary player who was a proven winner coming home to take over a program in disarray was a clear home run hire on paper. Fans expected the program to be out of its Bill Battle shadows and back to its Robert Neyland peak years by the early 1980s. Here’s the problem: Majors inherited a program far behind the times. Nobody was aware of how bad it was.

UT was behind on facilities, stadium upgrades, and its schemes, still not familiar with the pro-style. Majors had to change all of that at a school in a state that wasn’t loaded with football talent. The result was two losing seasons and three non-winning seasons his first four years. He picked things up in the 1980s, but still failed to achieve a top 25 finish in any of his first eight years.

By 1985, Majors’ rebuild had finally taken shape, and he led the program to a 9-1-2 record, SEC Championship, top five finish and Sugar Bowl victory. His rebuild was complete in 1989, and he ushered in the modern era of Rocky Top that saw it reach its greatest heights, not all with him. But the early years were not what fans expected, and that made the hire a major tease in their minds.

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