John T. Majors: Tennessee Football Legend as Player and Coach

"It's Football Time In Tennessee!"

Colliers Magazine December 7, 1956
John T. Majors Papers Tennessee State Library and Archives

Tennessee has had its share of athletes who have gone on to have successful careers in college and professional sports, but without a doubt one of the most successful is John Majors. As a high school player at Huntland High School, Majors was an outstanding all-around athlete who held the record as State Overall Scoring Leader in football for three consecutive years in 1950, 1951, and 1952.

As a player at the University of Tennessee, Majors led the Volunteers to an undefeated, untied regular season record of 10-0 and an appearance in the Sugar Bowl. While at Tennessee, Majors was All-Southeastern Conference twice and was voted player of the year in the Southeastern Conference twice by the Nashville Banner in 1955 and 1956. Majors was also NCAA All-American; United Press International National Back of the Year, 1956; Atlanta Touchdown Club’s SEC back of the year, 1956; and Heisman Trophy runner-up in 1956.

From left: Hal Bridges, Edd Cantrell, Bobby Proctor, John Majors, Bob Neyland, Jr.
University of Tennessee Freshman Coaching Staff, 1957
You Can Go Home, by Johnny Majors with Ben Byrd, 1986.

Majors began his professional coaching career with the University of Tennessee as a student-assistant in 1957, becoming an assistant coach in 1958 and 1959. He was assistant coach at Mississippi State from 1960-1963 and was assistant coach at the University of Arkansas from 1964 through 1967, when Arkansas won the National Championship in 1964. As head coach at the Iowa State University, Majors rebuilt the struggling Cyclone football program, taking the team to their first-ever bowl games in 1971 and 1972 and winning Big 8 Coach of the Year in 1971.

Here Majors poses with his staff. From left: Jack Blazek, Jackie Sherrill, Ollie Keller, Joe Madden, John Majors, Larry Lacewell, Jimmy Johnson, Gordon Smith.
Majors with Iowa State Coaching Staff, 1969
You Can Go Home, by Johnny Majors with Ben Byrd, 1986.

Majors would once again rebuild a failing football program as head coach at the University of Pittsburgh, where he took the Pitt Panthers to the Fiesta Bowl in 1973 and ultimately led them to a National Championship 1976, winning National Coach of the Year in both 1973 and 1976. Majors returned to the University of Tennessee in 1977 as head coach of the Volunteer football team. His career with Tennessee would span fifteen years and include ten bowl appearances, seven of which resulted in Tennessee victories; three SEC Championships in 1985, 1989, and 1990; and an overall win/loss record of 116 and 62. Majors was voted Coach of the Year in 1985/86.

Majors returned to the University of Pittsburgh as head coach in 1993, and in 1997 he became Director of Athletics and Special Assistant to the Chancellor at the University of Pittsburgh. Majors continues to stay active in college football as speaker, team evaluator, and recruiter.

Bumper sticker commemorating Majors’ return to the University of Pittsburgh as head coach in 1993.
John T. Majors Papers, Tennessee State Library and Archives.

The John T. Majors Papers, including an original donation and a later addition, consist of 57.5 linear feet of materials. The collection covers the years 1942 through 2007 and consists of correspondence, clippings, playbooks, notebooks, scrapbooks, notes, photographs, plaques, programs, publications, scouting and game reports, audio and video recordings, films, and other miscellaneous items. The original donation of approximately 20 linear feet (excluding audio and video) is also available on microfilm.

John T. Majors: Family and High School Years

From left: Larry, Shirley Ann, Bill, Joe, and John Majors.
A young John Majors with his brothers and sister. Missing is youngest brother Bob, who was born when Majors was fourteen years old.
You Can Go Home, by Johnny Majors with Ben Byrd, 1986

John Terrill Majors was born in Lynchburg, Tennessee, into a sports-minded family, although books and music were also prevalent in the Majors home. Family and friends can’t remember a time when John, even as a young child, was not engaged in some type of sports activity.

John Majors, #35, Huntland High School, 1951
John T. Majors Papers, Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Majors’ father, Shirley Inman Majors, was a gifted athlete who excelled in football, basketball, and baseball at Moore County High School, Lynchburg, Tennessee. The elder Majors had a passion for coaching and began his coaching career at Moore County High in 1944. After coaching three years in Lynchburg and two years at Decherd, Tennessee, he was offered the opportunity to restart the football program at Huntland High School, which had not had a team in over twenty years. The elder Majors finished out his coaching career as the head football coach at the University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, for 21 years and coached the only two undefeated, untied teams in the twentieth century, in 1958 and 1963, at Sewanee.

From left: Father Shirley, John, mother Elizabeth, brother Larry, sister Shirley Ann, and brother Bill, with youngest brother Bobby in front.
Life magazine photo from the 1960s featuring the Majors family.
Copy photograph from Majors of Tennessee, by F. M. Williams and Jeff Hannah, 1976

John Majors began his high school education in 1949 at Lynchburg High School, where he played football as a freshman. Majors’ Lynchburg team experienced a dismal season that year, with their only victory being a 18-13 win over his father’s Huntland High team in the last game of the season. This loss didn’t sit well with the elder Majors, who declared that that it would be the “last dad-blamed time a son of mine plays against me,” so he packed up the family and moved them to Huntland. In addition to John, three of his brothers—Joe, Bill, and Larry—also played for their father at Huntland. Between the years 1950 and 1956, Coach Shirley Majors’ teams ran up an impressive record of 70 wins, one loss, and one tie.

Majors and Other Members of the Huntland High School Football Squad. The Huntland Hornets were 9-1 in 1952, when Majors led the state in overall scoring with 213 points.
John T. Majors Papers, Tennessee State Library and Archives.

At Huntland High School under his father’s coaching, John Majors was an outstanding athlete: he held the record as State Overall Scoring Leader in football for three consecutive years, from 1950 through 1952. Majors scored 153 points as a sophomore, 161 points as a junior, and 213 points as a senior. For all four of his high school years, Majors scored a combined total of 564 points. In his senior year at Huntland, Majors rushed for 2,550 yards, averaging 17.7 yards per carry, and was named to the All-Midstate team by both the Nashville Banner and Nashville Tennessean.

John T. Majors: University of Tennessee Playing Days

From left to right are Quarterback Johnny Majors, End Buddy Cruze, and Tackle John Gordy.
Sports Illustrated magazine September 24, 1956, page 94

After his impressive years at Huntland High School, with a senior year that included an incredible 2,550 rushing yards, Majors received a tremendous amount of attention from college recruiters. The majority of the Southeastern Conference schools contacted him, as did as others from Wyoming, Arkansas, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and West Point. Majors finally narrowed his decision down to the University of Tennessee and Auburn University, and, when he was having a difficult time making up his mind, his mother, John Elizabeth Bobo Majors, said, “Well if there’s not any big difference between Tennessee and Auburn one way or the other, I’d just as soon you stayed in the state.” Majors’ decision to play at the University of Tennessee had been made.

Majors was among the 127 freshmen recruited for the 1953 football season, the last freshmen class recruited by UT’s famous coach, General Robert “Bob” Neyland.

Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt, 1956 Majors (number 45) displays his explosive running ability.
John T. Majors Papers, Tennessee State Library and Archives.

As a player at the University of Tennessee, Majors led the Volunteers to an undefeated, untied regular season record of 10-0 and an appearance in the Sugar Bowl. While at Tennessee, Majors was All-Southeastern Conference twice and voted player of the year in the Southeastern Conference twice by the Nashville Banner, in both 1955 and 1956. Majors’ honors during his years at Tennessee also included selection as a unanimous All-American; United Press International National Back of the Year, 1956; Atlanta Touchdown Club’s SEC back of the year, 1956; and Heisman Trophy Runner-Up in 1956.

John T. Majors: The Glory Years at the University of Pittsburgh

Sports Illustrated cover of January 10, 1977, celebrating the Panthers’ Sugar Bowl, 27-3.
John T. Majors Papers, Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Majors took over a struggling football program when he was appointed head coach at the University of Pittsburgh in 1973. He immediately pressed the university administration to increase the number of football scholarships that could be offered, as well as to improve conditions for the players by renovating the existing stadium, building a first-rate locker room and upgrading the training facilities. In an effort to build the Panther team, Majors focused heavily on recruiting, especially in Pennsylvania, and wound up luring the highly rated running back Tony Dorsett to play for Pitt.

With a team built around the outstanding athletic ability of Dorsett as well a number of other stand-out players, Pittsburgh finally had a winning year in 1973, going 6-4-1, and earning themselves a trip to the Fiesta Bowl. Majors was named National Coach of the Year. By 1975 a confident and improved Panther team had finished their season with a 7-4 record and a 33-14 win over a good Kansas team in the Fiesta Bowl.

Before the 1976 season Majors believed that the Pittsburgh team had both the experience and the drive to take them all the way to the National Championship. Majors was proven right when the Panthers finished the season an undefeated 12-0. That year they would go on to play Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, beating the Bulldogs 27-3 and winning the National Championship. Majors was again voted National Coach of the Year, and the extraordinary Tony Dorsett won the Heisman Trophy in 1976.

Biographical Sketch

Selected List of Honors and Awards