Tennessee football legend Johnny Majors passes away

The legendary Tennessee football Volunteers player and coach died at 85.

Johnny Majors, an All-American who helped lead Tennessee football to a national championship in 1956 and then a head coach who led the Vols to three SEC Championships, has died. He was 85 years old.

Majors’ wife, Mary Lynn Majors, confirmed the passing of the UT legend in a statement to WNML-FM. She said he spent his final hours looking over the Tennessee River, which was “something he dearly loved.”

In 1977, Majors left the Pittsburgh Panthers, where he had just won a national title, to take over a struggling Tennessee football program. After a few rough years, including three seasons in his four years without a winning record, the program took off in the 1980s.

UT reached a bowl game every year from 1981 to 1987, winning an SEC title in 1985 and winning 10 games for the first time since 1972 in 1987. After a losing season in 1988, Majors won back to back SEC Championships in 1989 and 1990 and ushered the Vols’ greatest run of the modern era. He didn’t get to see it all the way through, though, as he was replaced by Phillip Fulmer in 1992.

However, Majors went 116-62-8 during his tenure with the Vols and coached UT legends such as Reggie White, Willie Gault, Carl Pickens and Alvin Harper. He went 185-137-10 during his overall coaching career, which included stops with Pitt and the Iowa State Cyclones.

From 1954 to 1956, Majors was a triple-threat tailback for Tennessee football in the Vols’ single-wing system. He was initially recruited by Robert Neyland but played for Harvery Robinson when he arrived. Bowden Wyatt replaced Robinson in 1955.

During his two years under Wyatt, Majors led the team in rushing and passing. He led the program to a 10-1 record, including 10-0 in the regular season with a No. 2 ranking, and an SEC Championship in 1956. That was the year Majors earned All-American honors and was a Heisman Trophy runner-up.

Born in Lynchburg, Tenn., Majors played high school football for the Huntland Hornets in Franklin County. While there, he played for his father, Shirley Majors, who would eventually become head coach of the Sewanee Tigers.

More from Vols Football

• How to Win a GUARANTEED $200 Bonus Betting Just $5 on the Vols vs. Florida!
• Tennessee Football at Florida: Five Keys to a Vols Victory
• Week 3 SEC Power Rankings: Did Tennessee Football’s Win Help At All?
• Week 3 AP Polls: Why Did Tennessee Football Drop in the Polls?
• Tennessee Football: Top Five Performers in 30-13 Win vs. Austin Peay

After his playing days, Majors began coaching. He was with Vols from 1957 to 1959, first as a graduate assistant and then as a backfield coach. Then he went to the Mississippi State Bulldogs, where he coached defensive backs for four years, before joining Frank Broyles’ staff on the Arkansas Razorbacks, where he stayed for four years and helped win a national title.

His head coaching opportunity finally came in 1968, when he took over Iowa State. From 1968 to 1972, Majors rebuilt the Cyclones and led them to back to back bowl games his final two years there, the first two in history for the school. He then went to Pitt, and in four years he built a national title program behind 1976 Heisman Trophy winner Tony Dorsett.

Once he was replaced by Fulmer in 1992, Majors went back to Pitt, where he coached for four years from 1993 to 1996, before retiring for good. He managed to earn legendary status in Western Pennsylvania just as he had in East Tennessee.

Joining Majors and his father as football legends in the state of Tennessee was his brother, Bobby Majors, who played for Doug Dickey and Bill Battle in the late 1960 and early 1970s. Bobby Majors earned All-American honors himself in 1970 with 10 interceptions. Majors’ other three brothers Bill, Larry and Joe also played football.