College Football Coaching Legend Johnny Majors Dies At 85
The “Misery” just keeps piling up. I put “Misery” in quotes because it does feel like this year has been written by Stephen King. Pandemic’s protests, riots and a whole lot more has been going on at the same time. We have also lost some prominent figures in the sports world this year, including David Stern (NBA), Kobe Bryant (NBA), Tavaris Jackson (NFL), Don Shula (NFL), Tom Dempsey (NFL) Fred “Curly” Neal (Harlem Globetrotters), Don Larsen (MLB), Sam Wyche (NFL).
Yesterday I did articles on the passing of both Wes Unseld and Pat Dye and today I will have one on Hall Of Fame CFB coach, Johnny Majors, who has died at the age of 85. I grew up watching the majority of the names on the list above and they are all gone now. It is a shame and my condolences go out to all the friends and family of the dearly departed.
Majors started his head coaching career at Iowa State where he was 24-30-1 in five seasons. He also had two stints at Pittsburgh where he compiled a 45-45-1 record in eight combined years. He was 0-2 in bowl games at Iowa State and 2-1 at Pittsburgh. In 1976, Majors won a national title in the final season of his first stint with the team. They were 12-0 and RB Tony Dorsett won the Heisman trophy that year.
That season had Tennessee come knocking on the door and he let them in. It was his alma mater, so Majors jumped at the chance. He played both running back and quarterback from 1954-1956. As an RB he rushed for 1622 yards and 15 yards, while as a QB he threw for 1135 yards with 10 TDs and 12 INTS. Not spectacular, but remember, that was the 50s and we note that he was a two-time SEC player of the year and he finished 2nd in the Heisman in 1956, behind Notre Dame’s Paul Hornung
In 16 years coaching the Vols, Johnny compiled a 116-62-8 record, which included a 7-4 mark in bowl games. The Volunteers won three SEC Championships under his watchful eye and those three teams all finished in the top eight in the nation. He has six years of posting at least nine wins with the Vols and the best year was in 1989 when Tennessee went 11-1. The Vols Beat Arkansas 31-27 in the cotton bowl that year.
The final four years of his career were not great as he finished up at Pittsburgh, going 12-32 over that stretch. Majors had a street named after him on UT's campus: Johnny Majors Drive, he was inducted into the College Football Hall Of Fame in 1987 and his 1875 career wins overall are 29th on the all-time list. R.I.P Johnny Majors.
Some Info Gleaned From CBS Sports & USA Today