Below is a picture of Lane Kiffin with Johnny Majors.

Today Johnny Majors spoke at the Little Rock Touchdown Club. Majors told several revealing stories about his time at Arkansas from 1964-1968 when he was an assistant coach under Frank Broyles. One of the funniest stories concerned fellow assistant coach Jim MacKenzie who knew how to play Broyles at times according to Majors.

One such occasion the assistant coaches were being pressed into working long hours by Broyles during a time that Broyles thought he needed to see some progress with the team. Earlier the assistant coaches had been allowed to leave at noon and go fishing or play golf when the razorbacks had been winning almost all their games.

It was in July and Majors and some of the other coaches wanted to go play golf. Coach Broyles came into the room and asked how things were going. Coach MacKenzie asked Broyles what were the shots Broyles had on the first hole on Augusta when he got that 72. Broyles went to the chalk board and erased the plays and began to draw the placement of the ball on the first hole as he outlined the birdie he got .

By the time Broyles recalled the first 5 holes, he put down the chalk and said that it appeared we were all caught up around here and we should go play some golf!!!!

Johnny Majors

Over and over today, Majors talked about his respect for Coach Broyles. In this article below Johnny Majors lists the top coaches of all time and he includes Frank Broyles who hired Majors as an assistant.

Former Tennessee star, coach Johnny Majors says new Vols coach Derek Dooley will succeed if given time

Published: Tuesday, August 31, 2010, 7:00 AM

Derek Dooley may not have been the first choice to replace Lane Kiffin as head coach at Tennessee, but he was the right choice, said former Tennessee All-American and coach Johnny Majors.

The son of former Georgia coach Vince Dooley “knows how to coach,” Majors said, and he’ll get the job done if given the opportunity.

“I think he’ll do very well,” Majors said before speaking at the Cellular South 1st and 10 Club Monday night at Heron Lakes Country Club. “I think he was a very good pick. I’ve been an advocate of his the last two or three years since I’ve got to know him at a lot of coaching clinics.

“I’ve known him since he was a kid. … He’s got a good background, he’s intelligent, competent and … he’s learned a lot by osmosis, being around his dad and being raised up by his dad.”

The keys for Dooley are getting the time and power to turn around a program in decline, Majors said.

“It’s going to take time,” Majors said. “I think they’re going to have a very challenging struggle this year, very challenging — the most since I took over. It took us five or six years. … He’s got a tough job.

“People ask, ‘Do you think they’ll give him time?’ I tell them, ‘Frankly speaking, they don’t have a choice.’ … It’s been a mess for several years. They’ve had a tough time finding a president. They’ve had three presidents that didn’t last. So they need to learn how to hire the right person and stay with that person.

“They’ve got no choice. They’re going to have to tough it out. If you’ve got a strong back and strong spine and strong-minded, loyal person you’re working for (it’s easier). Its been a mess and they’re going to have to give him a chance to get it straightened out.”

Majors said he believes the Vols were headed in the right direction with Lane Kiffin, who led the program for one year before leaving for Southern Cal.

“Kiffin took over a bad situation,” Majors said. “After me, he took over the job in the worst situation it’s been in. No question about it. It’s been going that way, downhill, for 10 years at least, especially the last three.

“Lane Kiffin would have won there. He stopped the bleeding. He stopped a runaway truck. You don’t want a runaway truck, an 18-wheeler, going down the Sewanee Mountain. He got it braked and turned the cab sideways and was going to turn it back uphill. He would have won there, because they knew how to coach.”

Coaching drove Majors for many years, not only at Tennessee, but also at Iowa State and twice at Pitt, where he won the 1976 national championship. Before that, he was SEC MVP twice and runner-up for the Heisman Trophy his senior year.

“I don’t remember my first spoken word or my first conscious thought, but surely I can’t remember when I didn’t love football,” Majors said. “I think it’s a great game.”

Although it’s a different game than when he played or even coached, the best level of football, in his opinion, is still special.

That’s why he still loves to watch the game, why he loves watching other men coach the game, especially the great ones. One of those coaches is a Dooley mentor for whom he served as an assistant for seven years — Alabama’s Nick Saban.

“There’s no one that can coach ’em up any better than Saban can,” Majors said. “Intensity, focus, discipline, tenacious, clever, keeps his eyes on the bull’s-eye. He’s very demanding of his coaches and they have a great amount of respect for him. … Saban knows how to coach.”

Others on that list would include Frank Broyles, Vince Lombardi, Vince Dooley and Bear Bryant, among others, Majors said.

The College Football Hall of Fame member said he hopes Derek Dooley will make that list by leading Tennessee back to its glory years.

“Watching (Tennessee) practice, he’s made an impression on me,” Majors said. “He can coach. … But they’re going to have to give him a chance.”

McGill-Toolen’s E.J. May (defense) and Mary Montgomery’s Harrison Corley (offense) were recognized at the meeting as the Cellular South student-athletes of the week.

The next 1st and 10 Club meeting is on Sept. 20 with ESPN college football analyst Joe Schad as the guest speaker.