Johnny Majors has passed away
- Thread starter Styx
- Start date
Great coach. Big 8 very tough in his days. Take 1971, for example, where Big 8 finished 1, 2, and 3 in the final AP poll...
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/1971-standings.html
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/1971-standings.html
Sad day for ISU football. He was always proud of his days here, would always show up whenever they did a tribute or reunion. Will be missed.
Rest in peace, coach.
My brother played freshman football under him at ISU and had good things to say about him.
My brother played freshman football under him at ISU and had good things to say about him.
I always wondered what the program would have become if he had stayed. Certainly would have become the dominant program in the state, as it was already trending in that direction. Bowl games, new stadium, better recruits. Oh well, we now have a modern day version of Johnny Majors, and his name is Matt Campbell. He left Pitt, while Majors went there and turned that program around. RIP.
That leaves us with the next oldest living former coach, Jim Criner. The dark lord of Cyclone football that gave us two decades of sadness and turmoil.
That leaves us with the next oldest living former coach, Jim Criner. The dark lord of Cyclone football that gave us two decades of sadness and turmoil.
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I've talked a few times here in the Twin Cities with John Warder who was Johnny's first QB at ISU his senior year. He talked about the changes Johnny immediately made. This was my era as a student since I started school in 1969. The Johnny years remind me a little of the current atmosphere. Fun times with Matt Blair and George Amundson etc.
I've always appreciated him coming back to ISU for events and games. He was a Hall of Fame player for Tennessee and won a national championship at Pittsburgh yet always took time to come back here where he started.
I've always appreciated him coming back to ISU for events and games. He was a Hall of Fame player for Tennessee and won a national championship at Pittsburgh yet always took time to come back here where he started.
He brought excitement to ISU football! Fun times!
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There are 3 people responsible for me being a Cyclone through and through. My Dad, Johnny Orr and Johnny Majors.
I am furiously looking for my hat he signed at the Peach Bowl. I can remember that trip like it was yesterday.
Rest in Peace Coach
I am furiously looking for my hat he signed at the Peach Bowl. I can remember that trip like it was yesterday.
Rest in Peace Coach
RIP to a great ISU coach
Assuming this was the game when he came and was honored at half-time.
The next morning, I was waiting at a gate at the DSM airport when this old guy came barging in to talk to the agent. He was a bit boisterous and demanding, but I thought he just might be old and a little senile. When we boarded the plane, the line came to a halt and we eventually recognized that there was a problem at a row about 1/3 back with the same guy. He has spilled his coffee on a seat and they were trying to clean it up. Soon the line started moving again and I learned that the coffee was split on my seat and I now had the privilege of sitting next to the cranky old guy.
So, I did a little more to clean up the seat, sat down, and tried to ignore him. But he saw my ISU pin and asked if I was at the game yesterday. He said, "They had a tribute for me and my boys in the endzone at half-time." Immediately, I forgot about all the other stuff because I was sitting next to Johnny Majors!
He kept up what I now considered to be head-coach-ness, not mere crankiness, and it was directed at the hotel for giving him a newspaper that didn't have a sports section in it. His wife was on the other side and tried to pacify him, "Come, on now, Johnny!" in a classic Southern belle voice. I asked him if he would like to see the sports section via my online subscription. He did, so I logged in for him. Once I got to the article, he would just grunt and move his hand a little when he wanted me to scroll. It felt so cool to be making it possible for Johnny Majors to read about Iowa State football.
When he finished, he was really grateful. I asked if he wanted me to send him a print copy of the newspaper. He did and gave me his home address. When I returned, I sent him back issues of the DM Register and Ames Tribune for the whole weekend.
Crazy to think that I was able to help him with his enjoyment of the weekend of Iowa State football.
RIP Coach.
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Man that makes me wish I was young enough to have seen a game at The Clyde.
No, i didn't forget old Jim, but figured Criner might be the oldest living former coach. I'll do some digging on Wikipedia. But you are correct about Jim, he did plenty to keep us down. I recall some of the crowds back then, they would have worked well for social distancing!
