| John Majors By Gary Lundy "Passed away"
News-Sentinel sportswriter
June 18, 2000
LUNDY |
Ask
10 people what Johnny Majors' legacy is, and you might get 10 different
answers.
But perhaps Oval Jaynes said it best a few days ago when he learned
Majors will be inducted into the Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame on Aug.
10.
"The thing that will always stand out to me about John is the
Majors family and how close they have always been to each other,"
said Jaynes, former University of Pittsburgh athletic director who hired
Majors in December 1992 for a second tour of duty as the Panthers' head
football coach.
"I can hardly remember a game in the four years after John came
back to Pitt that wasn't attended by either his mother, Elizabeth; his
sister, or one of his brothers. Mrs. Majors was in her 80s, but she
would come to almost all the home games and sit in my box.
"She'd talk to John matter-of-factly as if he could hear from up
there in the box. She was his biggest fan, but when a play didn't work
she'd sometimes jump up and say, 'John, you know better than that!' I
finally told her, 'Mrs. Majors, we need to get you some headphones so
you can talk to John down on the sidelines.' "
The Majors family is legendary.
Former Michigan State coach Duffy Daugherty once introduced John
Terrill Majors as "the only coach in the country with a father
named Shirley and a mother named John."
Even though everybody knew John's mother as Elizabeth, her full name
was John Elizabeth Bobo Majors. Her father and grandfather were also
named John.
She married Shirley Majors, who was a farmer and barber before he
became a coach in high school and later at the University of the South.
John's dad passed away in 1981 and his mom died in 1996, but the
stories about the Majors clan will be told and re-told for years.
Who can forget Mrs. Majors' quote after her son's fumble set up
Baylor's last touchdown in UT's 13-7 loss in the Sugar Bowl at the end
of the 1956 season?
"Well, everybody burns the biscuits occasionally," she
said.
That bit of wisdom is as relevant today as it was then.
If you scrap away the residue from the ugly burnt biscuits in 1992 -
i.e., Majors' forced resignation and bitter departure as Tennessee's
head coach - you'll find one of the most revered heroes in the history
of UT athletics.
The only surprise about Majors' scheduled induction into the
Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame is that it didn't come sooner. Except for
Gen. Robert Neyland, no person has meant more to UT sports.
Majors was a charter member of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. In
1987, he was a National Football Foundation Hall of Fame inductee.
Ironically, he's probably more highly regarded nationally than in his
home state.
"Sometimes you have to be more than 100 miles from home before
you are considered an expert," said Jaynes, who is athletics
director at UT Chattanooga.
Today, Majors, 65, is retired from coaching and works as a special
assistant to the athletic director and chancellor at the University of
Pittsburgh.
ESPN commentator Beano Cook, a former Pitt sports information
director, says Majors remains "the most beloved Southerner of all
time" in Pennsylvania.
"He did for Pitt football what Gen. Marshall did for Europe
after World War II," Cook said. "He saved it. He won a
national championship.
"When he came back for a second time Majors didn't have his
fastball, but he still had a curveball. Those teams of his didn't win
big, but nobody was mad. They'll always remember what he did.
"His first year at Pitt in 1973 he recruited more people than
the Marines did for Vietnam. He must have brought in 80 players. Four
seasons later that class with Tony Dorsett won it all."
Yet Majors' heart was still in Tennessee. He grew up playing football
for his dad at Huntland High School. In 1953, John came to UT and
enjoyed a brilliant career. In 1956, he was runner-up to Paul Hornung
for the Heisman Trophy.
Two decades later, Majors returned to his alma mater, where the
family ties ran deep. Two of his four brothers, Bill and Bobby, were
standout players for the Vols. Bill also had been a Vols assistant
coach. He died in a car-train wreck that claimed the lives of two other
assistants.
For 16 years, 1977-1992, Majors was UT's football coach. At special
times such as the Vols' victory over Miami in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1,
1986, he found himself wishing his brother and dad were there to share
the good times with him.
That's who the real John Majors is.
The oldest brother to Joe, Bill, Shirley Ann, Larry and Bobby never
forgot his roots. The depth of his family ties are revealed in his
autobiography.
"I am proud of some of the things I have accomplished," he
says, "but as far as I'm concerned, my dad was the real coach
Majors."
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