Johnny Majors, former UT football coach, passes away

Johnny Majors, who coached football at the University of Tennessee from 1977 to 1992, passed away Wednesday.

He compiled a record of 116-62-8 and won Southeastern Conference titles in 1985, 1989 and 1990.

He took the program to two Sugar Bowls and a Cotton Bowl, winning all three of those matchups, including a shocking 35-7 blowout of No. 2 Miami in New Orleans after the 1985 season.

During his playing days at UT, Majors tallied 1,622 rushing yards, 1,135 passing yards and 16 touchdowns. He also punted 83 times for a 39.1-yard average, returned 36 punts for 438 yards (12.2) and returned 15 kickoffs for 344 yards (22.9).

Majors became a head coach at Iowa State in 1968 and left after five seasons for the same opportunity at Pittsburgh. His fourth and final season with the Panthers yielded the 1976 national championship, a 12-0 run led by running back Tony Dorsett that culminated with a 27-3 pounding of Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.

After losing his job at Tennessee in 1992 and being replaced by offensive coordinator Phillip Fulmer, Majors returned to Pitt but could not replicate his success from before, going 12-32 from 1993-96. Fulmer, meanwhile, led the Vols to a stellar run that contained SEC titles in 1997 and 1998 and the 1998 national championship, but he was removed as coach in 2008.

Tennessee struggled to a 63-62 record during the past decade, a stretch that did not sit well with Majors.

Majors underwent heart-valve surgery in March 2014 but managed to stay in good spirits when asked about his health.