Caption This Photo (Clean Discussion Only)

#57
#57
volfanecs said:
Cut that out and quit following me.


P.S. You gave me a tip about Gatlinburg last summer and I have meant to say thanks. It was a great trip.
Click to expand...

I was in Gburg yesterday. All jokes aside, no trip is complete without a stop at The Donut Friar. Love that place!

Now, back to the fat jokes.......
 
#58
#58
bamacheats said:
I was in Gburg yesterday. All jokes aside, no trip is complete without a stop at The Donut Friar. Love that place!

Now, back to the fat jokes.......
Click to expand...

You're killing me BC.

It was another place you told me to visit and it was a winner. I also went to Cherokee and hit for $1000.00. Great trip BC.

Now, cut it out.
 
#59
#59
Bash Fulmer all you want but the truth is Majors helped in getting himself canned. He was here longer than he should have been. Took him 9 years to win the SEC and that happened only because Florida was on probation so it really took him 13 years. I remember all those 4,5,6 and 7 loss seasons. All of the "win now" people on here would have been demanding his termination after his 4th or 5th year. Johnny Majors was a mediocre coach at best.
 
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#60
#60
govols105 said:
So what really happened? i was a in grade school when all this went down.

(photo deleted)
Click to expand...

Trying to answer your question here, if this is what you were asking, and here's what I know, through the usual sources who can't be named (family member, in my case):

CJM had pissed off a ton of people in the administration. He had a reputation (reputation = what people believe and are saying about you, not necessarily true, but this is the widely-publicized impression) of being a mean drunk. The secretaries in Andy Holt who had to deal with him were tired of his attitude and hated hearing his voice on the phone, as did others who fell into the category of rank and file UT employees, included my family member. I used to overhear the phone calls with CJM from the other room, and I knew that it was time to pour a stiff one for after the call. Let me add that my family member is a diehard Vol, who never said anything bad about any UT personnel whatsoever, other than CJM. Oh, and Gilley and Shumaker, lol. He's the most loyal employee that you'll ever hope to meet.

So anyway, right as the 1992 season began, CJM had emergency heart surgery (CABG x5.) While recuperating, CPF coached the team through 3 wins. Upon CJM's return, he coached two wins against Cincinnati and LSU, and then lost three in a row against Arky, Bama, and USCjr (teams that counted, I guess you could say), and then won against Memphis State (now University of Memphis), Kentucky and Vandy. (The last two used to be considered automatic wins, and the same could certainly be said for Tiger High.)

UT bought out his contract after the Vandy game and named CPF the new head coach after the bowl game, but after CJM said that he wouldn't coach the bowl game, CPF did, and UT beat Boston College 38-23.

(The stats above are a regurgitation of Wiki; the background drama is from the aforementioned family member, plus my own personal experience.)

So as to what happened, I doubt that it will ever be clearly defined, but it appears that CJM had annoyed people whom he shouldn't have annoyed and didn't have a lot of friends at the beginning of the 1992 season and basically lost his job for that reason, with the health reasons as the excuse. CPF was in the right place at the right time and wound up becoming head coach. Did CPF stab CJM in the back? My own impression, from the family member info and my own meetings with involved parties, is no, he wasn't actively angling for the job. But this is not to say that if or when higher-ups were grumping about CJM and informally feeling out CPF, he didn't make encouraging noises. Guess what, folks, that's how the world works, and also, if you've ever worked under an a**hole and had to publicly defend him while privately enduring his behavior, and then suddenly had the opportunity to replace him, that wouldn't be too surprising. (Completely just my impression, FWIW.)

So I guess my takeaway from this is that even if you're pretty much a winner in your job in terms of your job description, or even a semi-acceptable 50-50, you might not want to pizz off everyone around you, and you might want to kinda walk the boring middle road in terms of your personal behavior. JMO :hi:

--oh, and to add, let me just say that from my own experiences with the involved parties, I'm not a bit surprised that CJM is bitter and unforgiving. Let's just say that people choose how they react to adversity.

--and to add again, I was completely ready for CPF to move on when he was fired, because I saw way too much sloppiness going on with the administration of the program, especially player discipline and motivation. I don't have a dog in the CJM vs CPF fight. I just want a coach who will come in and fire up the players and the program.

Go Vols! :pepper:

edited to remove random parentheses
 
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#62
#62
VolNExile said:
Trying to answer your question here, if this is what you were asking, and here's what I know, through the usual sources who can't be named (family member, in my case):

CJM had pissed off a ton of people in the administration. He had a reputation (reputation = what people believe and are saying about you, not necessarily true, but this is the widely-publicized impression) of being a mean drunk. The secretaries in Andy Holt who had to deal with him were tired of his attitude and hated hearing his voice on the phone, as did others who fell into the category of rank and file UT employees, included my family member. I used to overhear the phone calls with CJM from the other room, and I knew that it was time to pour a stiff one for after the call. Let me add that my family member is a diehard Vol, who never said anything bad about any UT personnel whatsoever, other than CJM. Oh, and Gilley and Shumaker, lol. He's the most loyal employee that you'll ever hope to meet.

So anyway, right as the 1992 season began, CJM had emergency heart surgery (CABG x5.) While recuperating, CPF coached the team through 3 wins. Upon CJM's return, he coached two wins against Cincinnati and LSU, and then lost three in a row against Arky, Bama, and USCjr (teams that counted, I guess you could say), and then won against Memphis State (now University of Memphis), Kentucky and Vandy. (The last two used to be considered automatic wins, and the same could certainly be said for Tiger High.)

UT bought out his contract after the Vandy game and named CPF the new head coach after the bowl game, but after CJM said that he wouldn't coach the bowl game, CPF did, and UT beat Boston College 38-23.

(The stats above are a regurgitation of Wiki; the background drama is from the aforementioned family member, plus my own personal experience.)

So as to what happened, I doubt that it will ever be clearly defined, but it appears that CJM had annoyed people whom he shouldn't have annoyed and didn't have a lot of friends at the beginning of the 1992 season and basically lost his job for that reason, with the health reasons as the excuse. CPF was in the right place at the right time and wound up becoming head coach. Did CPF stab CJM in the back? My own impression, from the family member info and my own meetings with involved parties, is no, he wasn't actively angling for the job. But this is not to say that if or when higher-ups were grumping about CJM and informally feeling out CPF, he didn't make encouraging noises. Guess what, folks, that's how the world works, and also, if you've ever worked under an a**hole and had to publicly defend him while privately enduring his behavior, and then suddenly had the opportunity to replace him, that wouldn't be too surprising. (Completely just my impression, FWIW.)

So I guess my takeaway from this is that even if you're pretty much a winner in your job in terms of your job description, or even a semi-acceptable 50-50, you might not want to pizz off everyone around you, and you might want to kinda walk the boring middle road in terms of your personal behavior. JMO :hi:

--oh, and to add, let me just say that from my own experiences with the involved parties, I'm not a bit surprised that CJM is bitter and unforgiving. Let's just say that people choose how they react to adversity.

--and to add again, I was completely ready for CPF to move on when he was fired, because I saw way too much sloppiness going on with the administration of the program, especially player discipline and motivation. I don't have a dog in the CJM vs CPF fight. I just want a coach who will come in and fire up the players and the program.

Go Vols! :pepper:

edited to remove random parentheses
Click to expand...

I always heard Majors was hard to work for. I also seem to remember that while on a tour around the state that he made negative public comments about his contract that made the higher-ups mad at him.
 
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#63
#63
VolNExile said:
Trying to answer your question here, if this is what you were asking, and here's what I know, through the usual sources who can't be named (family member, in my case):

CJM had pissed off a ton of people in the administration. He had a reputation (reputation = what people believe and are saying about you, not necessarily true, but this is the widely-publicized impression) of being a mean drunk. The secretaries in Andy Holt who had to deal with him were tired of his attitude and hated hearing his voice on the phone, as did others who fell into the category of rank and file UT employees, included my family member. I used to overhear the phone calls with CJM from the other room, and I knew that it was time to pour a stiff one for after the call. Let me add that my family member is a diehard Vol, who never said anything bad about any UT personnel whatsoever, other than CJM. Oh, and Gilley and Shumaker, lol. He's the most loyal employee that you'll ever hope to meet.

So anyway, right as the 1992 season began, CJM had emergency heart surgery (CABG x5.) While recuperating, CPF coached the team through 3 wins. Upon CJM's return, he coached two wins against Cincinnati and LSU, and then lost three in a row against Arky, Bama, and USCjr (teams that counted, I guess you could say), and then won against Memphis State (now University of Memphis), Kentucky and Vandy. (The last two used to be considered automatic wins, and the same could certainly be said for Tiger High.)

UT bought out his contract after the Vandy game and named CPF the new head coach after the bowl game, but after CJM said that he wouldn't coach the bowl game, CPF did, and UT beat Boston College 38-23.

(The stats above are a regurgitation of Wiki; the background drama is from the aforementioned family member, plus my own personal experience.)

So as to what happened, I doubt that it will ever be clearly defined, but it appears that CJM had annoyed people whom he shouldn't have annoyed and didn't have a lot of friends at the beginning of the 1992 season and basically lost his job for that reason, with the health reasons as the excuse. CPF was in the right place at the right time and wound up becoming head coach. Did CPF stab CJM in the back? My own impression, from the family member info and my own meetings with involved parties, is no, he wasn't actively angling for the job. But this is not to say that if or when higher-ups were grumping about CJM and informally feeling out CPF, he didn't make encouraging noises. Guess what, folks, that's how the world works, and also, if you've ever worked under an a**hole and had to publicly defend him while privately enduring his behavior, and then suddenly had the opportunity to replace him, that wouldn't be too surprising. (Completely just my impression, FWIW.)

So I guess my takeaway from this is that even if you're pretty much a winner in your job in terms of your job description, or even a semi-acceptable 50-50, you might not want to pizz off everyone around you, and you might want to kinda walk the boring middle road in terms of your personal behavior. JMO :hi:

--oh, and to add, let me just say that from my own experiences with the involved parties, I'm not a bit surprised that CJM is bitter and unforgiving. Let's just say that people choose how they react to adversity.

--and to add again, I was completely ready for CPF to move on when he was fired, because I saw way too much sloppiness going on with the administration of the program, especially player discipline and motivation. I don't have a dog in the CJM vs CPF fight. I just want a coach who will come in and fire up the players and the program.

Go Vols! :pepper:

edited to remove random parentheses
Click to expand...
I heard much the same story from someone with some knowledge of the inner workings, not too long after it happened. Good post.
 
#64
#64
At the time, there was a pay increase freeze on State employees, and Coach Majors was told that he would be taken care of, but it never happened.

And actually, when it comes to SEC championships, Florida was on probation in 1990 as well.
 
#65
#65
I think Johnny announced at Memphis that he was resigning. I remember going to Nashville to see him coach his final game as the vols coach. They beat Vandy like 14-7 in the rain. But I know going into that game that it was his final one...that had already been announced. The players carried him off the field.


It was the right move at the time.
 
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#66
#66
Jax_Vol said:
I think Johnny announced at Memphis that he was resigning. I remember going to Nashville to see him coach his final game as the vols coach. They beat Vandy like 14-7 in the rain. But I know going into that game that it was his final one...that had already been announced. The players carried him off the field.


It was the right move at the time.
Click to expand...

Actually, that game was 26 - 21.
 
#67
#67
Majors: "I can't believe he is sitting so close to me... Oh boy, he is staring right at me isn't he?!?!"
 
#68
#68
I am going to have to drive him home again. Why can't someone else by Johnny's designated driver?
 
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#69
#69
stabbed-in-the-back-thumb27586177.jpg


Get The Picture!!!
 
#70
#70
jasonvols2.2 said:
At the time, there was a pay increase freeze on State employees, and Coach Majors was told that he would be taken care of, but it never happened.

And actually, when it comes to SEC championships, Florida was on probation in 1990 as well.
Click to expand...

I was trying to give the man a little credit. In 1989 the Vols were SEC Co-Champions with Bama even though they lost to Alabama in regular season.

And I do believe that the score of the Vanderbilt game that Majors last coached was 29-25.
 
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#72
#72
As I remember it, JM did not help himself with the fans during that time by appearing to be drunk at many of his public appearances, by demanding a raise in return for his mediocre coaching job, and by bad mouthing his players at every turn, and blaming them for the losses.

By the end of the season, most fans and the administration felt that Johnny had outstayed the "welcome" part of his "welcome home" gig and that over time he had grown old and stale and hard to get along with. Worse, the troops were no longer getting fired up to play well under him and he was losing games he should have won. Fans and the Administration alike were sick and tired of his frequent drunkenness, his bitter attitude and his arrogant and ill-timed demands for a raise. At the same time, they were enamored by the way Phillip had handled himself and the team during Johnny's hospital stay and subsequent recuperation.

For his part, while Phillip never openly campaigned to become the new coach, at the same time he did nothing to discourage such talk either. Fulmer's string of wins in the middle of the season as acting Head Coach is what tipped the scales in his favor, presenting him as the energetic young coach that the players responded to and played well for.

In the end, JM always thought that instead of showing loyalty and appreciation for all that Johnny had done for him, Phillip took advantage of his health problems and stabbed him in the back to become head coach at Tennessee. In reality, Johnny pretty much ran the sword in all by himself and Fulmer merely took advantage of the opportunity Majors gave him.

The story of Majors' self destruction of his career is amazingly similar in many ways to Fulmer's own professional self destruction many years later.

mlsoft
 
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