Shirley Majors

Shirley Majors
Biographical details
Born(1913-05-07)May 7, 1913
Moore County, Tennessee, U.S.
DiedApril 5, 1981(1981-04-05) (aged 67)
Westmoreland, Tennessee, U.S.
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1943–1949Moore County HS (TN)
1950–1956Huntland HS (TN)
1957–1977Sewanee
Baseball
1960–1970Sewanee
Head coaching record
Overall93–74–5 (college football)
105–110 (college baseball)
108–24–2 (high school football)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Football
6 CAC (1963–1965, 1967, 1975–1976)

Shirley Inman Majors (May 7, 1913 – April 5, 1981) was an American football and baseball coach. He served as the head football coach at Huntland High School in Franklin County, Tennessee from 1949 to 1956 and at Sewanee: The University of the South from 1957 to 1977. At Sewanee, he compiled a record of 93–74–5. His total of 93 wins is the most of any head coach in the history of the Sewanee Tigers football program.

Majors was the patriarch of a football family. His sons included two All-Americans in football at the University of Tennessee, Bobby and Johnny, Bill, who was an assistant at Tennessee until his death in an auto accident in 1965, Larry, who played for Sewanee at wingback, and Joe, who played at Florida State University and with the Houston Oilers of the National Football League.[1][2][3] The Majors athletes were inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame as a family in 1966.[4]

Majors died on April 5, 1981, after collapsing at the Meadowbrook Game Farm near Westmoreland, Tennessee.[5]

  1. ^ "Shirley Majors of Football Family In Tennessee, a Longtime Coach". The New York Times. United Press International. April 7, 1981. Retrieved June 7, 2010.
  2. ^ Rhoden, William C. (September 27, 1992). "College Football; Nice Homecoming for Majors". The New York Times. Retrieved June 7, 2010.
  3. ^ Whitehouse, Ken (January 4, 2007). "Prominent lobbyist dies in his sleep". NashvillePost.com. Retrieved June 7, 2010.
  4. ^ "Inductees". Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on January 25, 2010. Retrieved June 7, 2010.
  5. ^ "Shirley Majors rites slated in Lynchburg". The Daily News Journal. Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Associated Press. April 6, 1981. p. 7. Retrieved November 9, 2020 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.