Season in Question for Majors After Heart Bypass Operation

Tennessee football Coach Johnny Majors underwent heart bypass surgery Tuesday, less than two weeks before the Volunteers open the season at home against Southwestern Louisiana.

Majors, the dean of Southeastern Conference coaches, came through the 3 1/2-hour operation well, but the length of his recovery is unknown, according to University of Tennessee Medical Center officials.

“You know he is a very competitive, intense guy. You might find eight gorillas that could hold him away,” medical director Dr. Charles Mercer said. “But it’s too soon to say when that will happen.”

Majors, 57, received five arterial grafts during the operation. Initial tests suggested his “overall heart muscle function is still very good,” said Mercer, a cardiologist.

Majors is in critical but stable condition, which is considered normal after such surgery. Mercer said he probably will be hospitalized seven to 10 days.