Majors Bought Out of Tennessee Contract : College football: School may have been worried that assistant coach would leave and take staff with him.

The Johnny Majors era at Tennessee is over.

In a sudden and complex reversal of fortune, Majors announced Friday that he is resigning as coach of Tennessee after this season.

“Since I have not been given the opportunity by the UT administration to remain as head football coach past this current season, I am, effective Dec. 31st, 1992, relinquishing all my duties connected with the University of Tennessee,” Majors said in a brief but aggressive resignation statement.

Majors spoke shortly after the No. 23 Volunteers arrived for today’s game against Memphis State. He refused to answer reporters’ questions unless they dealt with the game.

University President Joe Johnson said Tennessee will pay “between $500,000 and $600,000” to buy out the remaining two years of Majors’ contract.

Majors, 57, added: “I still love football, and if there’s an opportunity to coach elsewhere, I certainly would consider it.”

The was no word on a successor.

Johnson and Athletic Director Doug Dickey negotiated the settlement with Majors after the school said it would not renew his contract past the 1994 season.

Majors’ statement addressed two complaints of disgruntled boosters: that he returned too quickly from heart bypass surgery this season, and that he was too hard on his assistant coaches.

“I’m happy to say that my doctors say my health is now excellent and, contrary to some rumors, I was given the OK to return to work when I did,” he said.

He later added: “Since the early days of watching my dad, the late Shirley Majors, coach, I developed a very competitive spirit concerning football. I played hard, I coached hard, and I demanded a lot of myself and those who surrounded me.

“Sometimes in the heat of battle I’ve occasionally said things that, upon reflection, I wish I hadn’t. But that’s been my style and it has brought me more success than failure.”

He will coach the team’s final three games and any bowl matchup for the Volunteers (5-3). Dickey said it would be up to Majors whether to coach the team if they land a bid to a Jan. 1 bowl game.

The settlement closes a 16-year stint for Majors at his alma mater, the longest uninterrupted coaching career in school history.

Offensive coordinator Phillip Fulmer, who coached the Volunteers the first three games of the season while Majors recuperated from heart bypass surgery, is a leading candidate to replace Majors.

There was speculation that Dickey was concerned that Fulmer would leave for a head coaching job after the season and take most of the staff with him.

“With the loss of a staff, who would want to go here? Only the most die-hard UT fan,” Tennessee sophomore quarterback Heath Shuler told the Nashville Banner. “If Coach Fulmer and the assistants left, I doubt Tennessee would even get one out-of-state recruit this year.”

Majors has a 113-62-8 record at Tennessee.

In 25 years as a head coach at Iowa State, Pitt and Tennessee, his record is 170-105-10.