Legendary Pittsburgh, Tennessee coach John Majors, also a star on the field, dies at 85

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- John Majors, who coached Pittsburgh to a football national championship in 1976, starred as a player at Tennessee in the 1950s and later returned to his alma mater as coach to lead the Volunteers back to national prominence, died Wednesday morning. He was 85.

Majors went by "John" among his friends and family and was known as "Johnny" as a player and coach. His name will forever be intertwined with the University of Tennessee and the entire state.

"It's with a sad heart that we make this announcement," Mary Lynn Majors, his wife of 61 years, said in a statement released by the family. "John passed away this morning. He spent his last hours doing something he dearly loved: looking out over his cherished Tennessee River."

Majors, who was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1987, was the runner-up to Paul Hornung for the Heisman Trophy in 1956. Gen. Robert Neyland once referred to Majors as the "greatest single-wing tailback in Tennessee history."

As a coach, Majors rebuilt programs at Iowa State, Pittsburgh and Tennessee. He led the Vols to three SEC championships, including their first in 16 years in 1985. Majors returned to Tennessee in 1977, the year after leading Pitt to a national championship, and guided the Volunteers program through the end of the 1992 regular season, when he was forced out as coach.

Majors compiled a 185-137-10 career record as a coach and was named national coach of the year three times. His coaching tree includes 33 assistant coaches who later became head coaches in either the college or professional ranks.