Johnny Majors

Johnny Majors was an All-American halfback and two-time SEC Most Valuable Player during his playing days for the Tennessee Volunteers in the 1950’s, and went on to coach the Vols for 16 seasons from 1977-1992. Majors began his coaching career as an assistant at Tennessee in 1957, and would work as an assistant at Mississippi State and Arkansas before accepting his first head coaching job at Iowa State in 1968.

He returned to Knoxville in 1977 and led Tennessee to 12 winning seasons during his 16-season tenure as head coach. Majors won three SEC championships with the Volunteers in 1985, 1989 and 1990, and reached 11 bowl games as head coach at Tennessee, posting a 7-4 record in those games. He was named the 1985 SEC Coach of the Year and had six teams finish a season ranked in the top-15 of the final Associated Press polls. Majors was asked to resign from his job at Tennessee late in the 1992 season in a move many viewed as a way to make room for future coach Phillip Fulmer. Majors left Knoxville with a 116-62-8 record. He returned to coach at the University of Pittsburgh in 1993, the same school Majors won a national title with in 1976.

Majors was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1987 with 185 career wins as a head coach.