The College Football Hall of Fame is simply making things too complicated. Things shouldn’t be so difficult.
I have trouble taking the induction process seriously following the most recent changes, which lowered the mandatory winning percentage from 60-percent to 59.5-percent. It reminded me that there was such an absurd requirement.
The change was made to get the late Mike Leach enshrined. Leach, who was known for his exciting offenses and even more exciting sound bites, has a 59.6-percent winning percentage. He needs to be in the hall. No doubt, but don’t stop there.
The mandatory winning percentage needs to be dropped all together. Perhaps that would get former Tennessee coach Johnny Majors inducted. One would certainly hope so. It’s a shame that Majors hasn’t been inducted as a coach already, even though he’s been inducted as a player.
Having a mandatory winning percentage is just silly. Majors, whose winning percentage is 57-percent, won a national championship and coached Heisman Trophy winner Tony Dorsett. Majors’ winning percentage shouldn’t define his career. His resume can’t be encapsulate by a number. There’s more to consider.
Majors was a program builder at Iowa State, Pittsburgh and Tennessee. In each case, he took over programs that were practically destitute when he was hired. Majors got Iowa State to two bowl games, won his natty at Pitt and built Tennessee into one of the top programs in the nation.
The Vols were 6-5 and 2-4 in the SEC in 1976 before Majors took over the following season. Majors went 116-62-8 as a Vol. He also won three SEC titles. Moreover, he set up his successor, Phillip Fulmer, to lead the Vols to a pair of SEC championships and a national title. Fulmer deserves the credit for his own success, but Majors should get a pretty big tip of the cap.
Majors also deserves credit for his coaching tree, which includes more names than I can list. He had over 25 assistants become head coaches in college or the NFL. Perhaps you’ve heard of Jimmie Johnson or Jon Gruden. Those a just a couple of the highlights.
Johnny Majors coached from 1968 to 1996. He helped shape college football. It’s time for him to be in the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach. This isn’t that hard.
