Johnny Majors was to enter his sixteenth season as the Volunteers' head coach for the 1992 season. However, in August, Majors underwent emergency quintuple bypass surgery, and as a result Phillip Fulmer was named interim head coach.[2] After Fulmer led the Vols to a 3–0 start, Majors returned and led Tennessee to a 5–3 finish. By the end of the season, the university bought-out the remainder of Majors' contract, and on November 29, Fulmer was named as the Volunteers' new head coach effective after the Hall of Fame Bowl.[3] However, on December 4, Majors announced he would not coach the team in the bowl game, and as a result Fulmer went on to coach the Volunteers to 38–23 victory over Boston College in his first game as Tennessee's full-time head coach.[4] The school officially credits Majors with a record of five wins and three losses (5–3) and Fulmer with four wins and zero losses (4–0) for the 1992 season.