Legendary Tennessee Volunteers and Pitt Panthers College Football Coach Johnny Majors gone at age 85

from the Knox News/Knoxville News-Sentinel, in Knoxville, Tennessee:CLICK HERE to read more/read all…

Johnny Majors, a legendary coach for the Tennessee football team and member of the College Football Hall of Fame, has died. He was 85.

“It’s with a sad heart that we make this announcement,” Mary Lynn Majors, his wife of 61 years, said in a statement shared with Knox News. “John passed away this morning. He spent his last hours doing something he dearly loved: looking out over his cherished Tennessee River.”

Majors guided Pittsburgh to a national championship and undefeated season in 1976 before becoming Tennessee’s coach. In 16 seasons at Tennessee from 1977-92, Majors compiled a 116-62-8 record.

“I think Johnny Majors’ name is synonymous with Tennessee football,” said longtime WNML sports talk host Jimmy Hyams, who covered Majors’ coaching career while he was a sportswriter at The News Sentinel.

Majors began his playing career with the Vols in 1953, joining the team as a single-wing tailback. He was named the SEC Player of the Year in 1955 and 1956.
**********(Majors finished second in the voting for the Heisman Trophy, his senior year in college.)**********

++++++++++from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:++++++++++
Johnny Majors, the last football coach to lead Pitt to a national championship, has died, the school announced Wednesday. He was 85.

Majors led the Panthers for two stints over his 39-year coaching career, guiding them to one of the best stretches in school history from 1973-76 and returning for a less successful tenure from 1993-96. He was inducted into the Pitt Athletics Hall of Fame in 2019.

Following the 1972 season, Pitt was searching for a head coach after firing Carl DePasqua, who had gone 13-29 in four seasons. The Panthers had not had a winning season in nine years and were desperate for someone to breathe life into the program.

Majors did just that. In his first season on the sidelines, Majors turned Pitt around from 1-10 the previous year to 6-4-1, with an appearance in the Fiesta Bowl. Even though the Panthers dropped that game to Arizona State, it was clear that Majors had made his stamp on the program.

CLICK HERE to read more and read all on Majors, from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette…