KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — It has been 60 years since Tennessee won the 1956 SEC championship.

The Volunteers were a well-rounded team that went undefeated through conference play and finished 10-1.

College football Hall of Famer and Tennessee legend Johnny Majors was a senior tailback, and he still looks back at how great that team was.

“It’s one of the greatest teams in Tennessee history,” Majors told Saturday Down South. “We had no weaknesses, we had a senior and junior led ball team. We had seven senior starters and four junior starters, we played together the year before.”

Majors credited the 1955 Tennessee team for setting up success for the SEC championship season a year later.

“The 1955 team finished 6-3-1 and we only lost one starter. We only lost Charlie Coffey, a guard, so in 1956 we were certainly quite confident that we were going to have a real good team,” he said.

The team was led by Hall of Fame coach Bowden Wyatt, who played under the legendary General Robert Neyland from 1936-1938 and came back to become the Vols’ head coach after a brief two-year stint as head coach at Arkansas.

“Coach Wyatt came in here after winning the Southwest Conference in 1954 and he brought all but one coach on his Arkansas staff to Tennessee,” Majors said. “Wyatt brought in one of his Navy friends, Jim McDonald, who played at Ohio State, to fill the one open position on the staff. Coach Wyatt got us turned around overnight.”

Wyatt replaced head coach Harvey Robinson, who coached the Vols in the 1953-1954 seasons, replacing Neyland after the 1952 season.

“Coach Robinson was a wonderful man, a smart coach, but had a tough job and General Neyland released him and brought in Coach Wyatt. Coach Wyatt turned Arkansas around in two years time after going 3-7 in 1953 and then won the Southwest Conference championship the next year.”

Wyatt turned Tennessee around in two years also. The Vols went 6-3-1 in Wyatt’s first season of 1955 and finished fourth in the SEC.

“He turned us around in two years,” Majors said. “The background of the 1956 team is quite interesting. We were the last group of high school seniors that signed under General Neyland. We signed back in those days in December. He signed 127 players and we wound up with 18 seniors from that class in 1956. It goes back to what I always said when I was coaching — those who stay will play, and those who play will be champions.

“I wanted to go play for Army growing up. They didn’t lose a game from 1944-1946, but I also wanted to play for Tennessee, growing up in Lynchburg. To play in a big stadium like Tennessee’s was one of my biggest dreams.

“I had questions if I would ever do it because the players were awfully big under Neyland when I was in high school watching them play. But I got a lot of good breaks, great coaching in high school, and great coaching at Tennessee under the Neyland protege. Coach Neyland signed us, he retired in February of ill health, and we played as sophomores under his full staff with the exception of him being head coach, and we still had him as athletic director.”

The 1956 team ran the single-wing offense and Majors still looks back at how great the offense was that scored the most points in a season under Wyatt in his eight-year Tennessee tenure.

“All of our lineman were seniors in 1956 except for our left guard. I was the only senior in the backfield and we had no weaknesses offensively and defensively,” he said. “Single-wing center is the hardest position to play in college football history. You had to have your head down underneath, look back at the backfield, and look up when you’re lined up, then block. We had Bubba Howe there and I don’t remember him ever making a bad snap, I don’t believe he ever snapped one on the ground or over my head or over the fullback’s head. He was accurate.

“So we had three other backs and a guard that were the only juniors. It was one of the greatest four or five backfields in Tennessee history. Tommy Bronson was a fullback, Stockton Adkins and Bob Hibbard was a great wing-back.”

Tennessee finished with one loss in 1956, only losing their Sugar Bowl game to No. 13 Baylor 13-7. In those days, the polls determined the national champion and the national champion was determined before the bowl games.

In 1951, Tennessee won the consensus national championship, finishing 10-1 and losing only in the Sugar Bowl.

The 1956 team finished No. 2 in the Associated Press poll, behind Oklahoma. The Sooners and Vols were the only unbeaten and untied teams that regular season.

Majors compared his team with the 1951 championship Vols.

“We had a tougher schedule than the 1951 team,” he said. “We played pretty much the same conference schedule.

“The 1951 team was 10-0, we (1956) were 10-0, both lost the Sugar Bowl. The 1951 team played North Carolina, Duke, Chattanooga, Tennessee Tech and Washington & Lee (five-game SEC schedule). The 1956 team played Maryland, North Carolina, Chattanooga and Duke. So we had the tougher schedule, same record and we finished No. 2.”

A few other tidbits from the conversation with the Vols’ legend:

The 1956 Georgia Tech game: Majors talks about the 6-0 win over Georgia Tech in 1956. The game was played in Atlanta and Tennessee was ranked No. 3 and Georgia Tech was ranked No. 2.

Majors on Saturday’s game against Florida: Fast forward 60 years, Majors has his thoughts on the current Tennessee team as they are set to take on SEC East rival Florida Saturday. The 1956 team will be recognized during the game Saturday.

“Tennessee has some people that are hurt and that they will miss, and Florida has a big loss with their quarterback being out,” Majors said. “The guy behind him, Appleby, has not shown anything yet, but I haven’t seen him play. But Florida has a dynamic defense, so Tennessee’s offensive line will be tested.

“The big difference will be Florida’s defense more than anything else. Florida’s offense, I think, will be limited with their quarterback being hurt. Tennessee has a good defense, they have some talent there, and should do well in keeping Florida’s offense under control.

“I think the challenge, without question, is if Tennessee can move the ball against an aggressive defense. It will be an interesting game, and a toss-up right now.”