Johnny Majors, who assisted Hogs' national championship team, dead at 85

Johnny Majors (right) and Frank Broyles participate in a Hog Call prior to an Arkansas game against Alabama on Oct. 11, 2014, in Fayetteville. The men were on the field for a ceremony celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Razorbacks' 1964 national championship team. Majors was an assistant coach for Broyles for four seasons from 1964-67.

— Johnny Majors, who as an assistant coach helped Arkansas to its only football national championship in 1964, died Wednesday at his home in Knoxville, Tenn. He was 85.

In a blog post, Tennessee radio host Jimmy Hyams posted a statement attributed to Majors' wife, Mary Lynn. "He spent his last hours doing something he dearly loved: looking out over his cherished Tennessee River," she said.

The Tennesseean reported it confirmed the death through Jackie Sherrill, one of Majors' former assistant coaches and friends.

Majors was a College Football Hall of Famer who won 185 games in 29 seasons at Iowa State, Pittsburgh and Tennessee. Led by Heisman Trophy winner Tony Dorsett at running back, Majors coached Pitt to an undefeated national championship in 1976 that was capped by a 27-3 victory over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.

"He led us to our greatest glory and changed Pitt forever," the school's football Twitter account posted Wednesday.

Majors left Pitt after the national championship season to coach his alma mater Tennessee. He coached 16 seasons for the Volunteers and won SEC championships in 1985, 1989 and 1990.

In 1992, Majors was asked to resign at Tennessee after three consecutive losses, including a 25-24 loss to Arkansas at Neyland Stadium. Majors missed the first three games that season while recovering from heart surgery and Tennessee interim coach Phil Fulmer won all three games he coached.

The Vols were 5-0 and ranked No. 4 at the time of the loss to the Razorbacks, who won only three games that season, their first in the SEC. Three weeks later, Tennessee lost another one-point decision to first-year league member South Carolina before winning Majors' final three games.

Majors' 116 victories at Tennessee are third all-time to Robert Neyland and Fulmer.

Majors returned to Pittsburgh in 1993 and coached the Panthers until he retired in 1996 after going 12-32 in his second stint as the team's head coach.

As a player at Tennessee, Majors was the SEC’s most valuable player in 1955 and 1956. His jersey No. 45 was retired in 2012.

“Dynamic on the field. Fierce on the sidelines. Distinguished Tennessean,” Tennessee's football program tweeted. “We mourn the loss of legendary player and coach Johnny Majors — a man who left an indelible mark on Tennessee Football.”

He was runner-up to Notre Dame's Paul Hornung for the Heisman Trophy as a senior in 1956 when he rushed for 549 yards and seven touchdowns, and passed for 352 yards and five touchdowns.

Years later, Majors said Syracuse running back Jim Brown should have won the Heisman that year. Brown finished fifth in the voting.

Majors was coached at Tennessee by Bowden Wyatt, who left Arkansas following the 1954 season when the Razorbacks won the Southwest Conference championship. Majors began his coaching career as a graduate assistant under Wyatt at Tennessee, then coached the Vols’ backfield in 1958 and 1959.

Majors coached four seasons at Mississippi State before he was hired to Frank Broyles’ staff at Arkansas prior to the 1964 season. The Razorbacks' staff that year also included future college head coaches Barry Switzer, Jim Mackenzie and Bill Pace.

Majors coached Arkansas’ defensive backs and before the season requested two key position changes — Harry Jones to safety and Bill Gray to cornerback.

“After spring practice I asked Coach Broyles to let me have Harry Jones as a safety man and Billy Gray as a (cornerback)," Majors said in a 2014 interview with Hawgs Illustrated. "A couple of coaches laughed at me because neither had played defense."

Jones and Gray became starters for the Razorbacks by the time the season began and are remembered as two of the best defensive players from a team that recorded five consecutive shutouts to close the regular season. Jones finished the season with 44 tackles and broke up five passes, while Gray finished with 39 tackles, three interceptions and nine pass breakups.

“It was a group that maximized their talents as much as any football team I have ever been around in 40 years of coaching," Majors said.

Arkansas had a record of 33-8-1 and won two SWC championships during Majors’ four seasons as an assistant coach. He left after the 1967 season to become head coach at Iowa State.

Majors tutored several notable coaches during his years as a head coach. Among the most notable names in his coaching tree are Super Bowl-winning head coaches Jimmy Johnson and Jon Gruden, long-time college head coaches Fulmer, Sherrill and David Cutcliffe, and former NFL and college head coach Dave Wannstedt.

Majors' death is the second this week of a legendary SEC football coach. Former Auburn coach Pat Dye died Monday.

Dye's Tigers and Majors' Volunteers combined to win six outright SEC championships between 1983-90, and shared the 1989 championship.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified Majors' final game at Tennessee. He coached the Volunteers until the conclusion of the 1992 regular season.