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Tennessee football’s top 10 seasons with Johnny Majors

By Caleb Calhoun

Johnny Majors, Head Coach for the University of Tennessee Volunteers stands with his team during the NCAA Southeastern Conference college football game against the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish on 10 November 1990 at the Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. Notre Dame won the game 34 - 29. (Photo by Rick Stewart/Allsport/Getty Images)
Johnny Majors, Head Coach for the University of Tennessee Volunteers stands with his team during the NCAA Southeastern Conference college football game against the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish on 10 November 1990 at the Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. Notre Dame won the game 34 - 29. (Photo by Rick Stewart/Allsport/Getty Images) /
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8. 1983 (Johnny Majors’ role: Head coach)

9-3 (4-2); W Citrus Bowl

Two years after that 1981 season, the only thing that kept the momentum behind Johnny Majors was Tennessee football upsetting the Alabama Crimson Tide and ending that streak in 1982 as they stumbled to a 6-5-1 record. The Vols then fell to 1-2 early in 1983, losing to the No. 10 ranked Pittsburgh Panthers, Majors’ former team, and the eventual SEC Champion Auburn Tigers.

In between they beat the New Mexico Lobos. But then the leadership of Reggie White took over, starting with his four sacks against The Citadel. After that, UT got red-hot, beating the LSU Tigers 20-6, upsetting No. 11 ranked Alabama on the road 41-34, blowing out the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and then topping the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

Majors’ team did suffer an upset home loss to the Ole Miss Rebels, but they rebounded to beat the Kentucky Wildcats and Vanderbilt Commodores. In the process, White set a school record with 15 sacks that year and was named an All-American in arguably the greatest individual season ever by a Vol. This was also Alan Cockrell’s final year at quarterback, as he would go on to play baseball.

Anyway, UT upset the No. 16 ranked Maryland Terrapins in the Citrus Bowl, winning 30-23. The result was a 9-3 season for them, topping their 8-4 season in 1981 to prove they truly were getting better under Majors. The success of this year continued to lay the foundation for the great things that were to come.

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