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september
october 201 3
Angelique Medow:
You remain extraor-
dinarily busy’Äîand youwill be onTwitter
duringTennesseeVolunteer football games
this fall! Can you tell us about that?
Johnny Majors:
My good friend [former
University of Oklahoma and Dallas
Cowboys head football coach] Barry
Switzer, whom I workedwith during the
1960s at the University of Arkansas, has
been tweeting duringOklahoma Sooners
games. He askedme if I would be inter-
ested in tweeting for University of Ten-
nessee games. He introducedme toMike
Henry, CEOof Second Screen SportsMedia
and the Coaches Cabana, the company
that has put the tweeting project together.
Mike and I hit it off, so I became one of 14
coaches whowill be tweeting during dif-
ferent games. [
CoachMajors will be tweeting
from the Tin Roof on CumberlandAvenue during
all 12 (home and away) UT games.
]
AM:
What are some other projects you are
working on?
JM:
I amco-authoring a book that explains
how to apply football plays towin at this
game called’ÄúLife.’Äù The ideamight sound like
it’Äôs out of left field’Äîbut it works! Anything I
can do to coach people to create a happier
andmore-winning life is good byme!
AM:
You’Äôve said before:’ÄúIt’Äôs never too late
to learn.’ÄùWhat have you learned lately?
JM:
I am regularly reminded to never
take life too seriously. You’Äôve gotta have
a little fun’Äîor you might as well give up
the ghost.
AM:
What are some of your proudest
moments in football?
JM:
1. My first scrimmage as a player
at UT. I was used to playing in cow
pastures’Äîand now I was playing for
UT! Afterwards, I called home and said,
’ÄúDaddy, they miss tackles in college
just like they do in high school!’Äù I really
learned something that day. 2. The
dedications of Majors Boulevard in my
hometown of Lynchburg, Tennessee, in
honor of my entire family, and Johnny
Majors Drive on the UT campus. 3. Our
1982 victory over Alabama, 35-28, to stop
Alabama’Äôs 11-game winning streak over
UT. 4. Our victory over Miami in the 1986
Sugar Bowl. 5. The 1991 ’ÄúMiracle at South
Bend [
Tennessee was trailing 31-7 against
Notre Dame in the second quarter’Äîand yet
the Vols went on to win 35-34
].
AM:
What are the biggest changes you’Äôve
seen in college football over the years?
JM:
Equipment has changed for the
better: we now have helmet suspension
systems to reduce concussions and bet-
ter shoulder pads and shoes. Rules have
also improved: no spearing, no blocking
below the waist on exchange of posses-
sions, and no crack-back blocking. And
players have gotten faster and bigger’ÄîI
can’Äôt help but wonder
how big
and
how
fast
people can get.
AM:
Everyone wants to know: What are
your impressions of Butch Jones?
JM:
Butch Jones is the right man at the
right time. He’Äôs got everything it takes to
be a successful football coach. I like what
he says, and I like the way he says it. He
is earnest, sincere, and intelligent. He
knows how to lead a practice and set the
pace. Butch Jones will get the job done.
AM:
What’Äôs the best advice you ever
received?
JM:
To be truly successful, we’Äôve got
to have three things in life: something
worthwhile to do, someone to love, and
something to look forward to.
Johnny
Majors
J
ohnny Majors
knows a thing or two about sports: He has been playing,
coaching, and watching football for more than seven decades. Angelique
Medowmet Majors at his home to discuss his recent media projects, his
proudest sports moments’Äîand his take on UT Football: 2013.
Former University of Tennessee head football
coach (1977 through 1992), University of
Pittsburgh 1976 national champion, 1956 Heisman
Trophy runner-up’Äîand, in 2013, as busy as ever.
Angelique Medow
is a 2012
Cityview
Entrepreneur and
the Principal of Building Ideas, which provides design, decorating,
consultation, and projectmanagement for commercial and
residential properties. She also enjoys exercising her degree in
journalismfromArizona StateUniversity.
around town
PHOTOGRAPH by
TYLER OXENDINE
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