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Ranking all Tennesse football QBs to start for Johnny Majors

By Caleb Calhoun

Andy Kelly in action with the ball during a game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Tennessee Volunteers at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.
Andy Kelly in action with the ball during a game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Tennessee Volunteers at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. /
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Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images /

There were 11 starting quarterbacks for the Tennessee football Volunteers from 1977 to 1992.

Note: This is part of a series of posts remembering Johnny Majors and all that he accomplished for Tennessee football as a player and a coach. 

A mark of Tennessee football under the leadership of the late Johnny Majors was the growth of the quarterback position. When Majors arrived, he was walking into a program that had run the T-formation for 13 years, first installed by Doug Dickey and continued by Bill Battle.

Of course, that formation is when quarterbacks first became prevalent on Rocky Top, most notably Dewey Warren, Bobby Scott and Condredge Holloway. After all, until Dickey arrived, they had run the single-wing for nearly 40 years, which is the system that turned Majors into an All-American and Heisman Trophy runner-up in 1956.

But by this time, the T was outdated as well, and Majors had to change things up. The result was him running a mix of the triple-option veer and the I-formation. Over time, the program evolved into a pro-style offense with a deep vertical passing attack, but Majors always incorporated option elements when he had a dual-threat quarterback.

Because of that focus, the position at Tennessee football evolved greatly under Majors. He signed three eventual All-SEC quarterbacks and consistently showed an ability to adapt to his quarterback’s style through a range of offensive coordinators, from Joe Avezzano to Bill Pace to Walt Harris to Phillip Fulmer.

Just how great were the quarterbacks? Well, it’s time to break that down. In this post, we’re going to rank all the quarterbacks who started at least one game under Majors on Rocky Top. Their rankings will be based on things they accomplished while playing for Majors as a coach.

Some of these players are among the most legendary quarterbacks of all-time, and upon leaving Knoxville, a couple of them had shattered what were then UT records. Many of them were great underdog stories as well.

Majors’ focus on quarterbacks became a tradition that culminated with leaders like Peyton Manning after he left. But who were these signal callers? Let’s break them down. This is our ranking of all 11 Tennessee football quarterbacks who started at least one game with Majors as head coach.

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