Johnny Majors spent 16 seasons as the coach at Tennessee before he was replaced by one of his assistants, Phillip Fulmer.

And just because it’s now been another 16 years since Fulmer took over doesn’t mean that Majors isn’t still bitter about it. And since Tennessee is off to a disappointing 2-3 start under Fulmer this season, Majors sees now as a good time to vent that bitterness.

“There’s nothing funny about it, but that was one of the main mistakes I made in my coaching career,” Majors said of hiring Fulmer in an interview Thursday. “Maybe that’s the major mistake, but I’m not going to talk about what they’re doing now.”

Of course, it’s plainly obvious that Majors is talking about what they’re doing now, even if he wants to claim he isn’t talking about it. And Majors wasn’t done there. He also said that Tennessee’s successes during Fulmer’s tenure should be attributed to defensive coordinator John Chavis, who was also an assistant under Majors.

“John Chavis has kept them afloat up here for several years at defensive coordinator,” Majors said.

After that, Majors made a statement that is flatly ridiculous: “I don’t say anything about it publicly. I have my own private thoughts, but I don’t get into that. It’s pretty well obvious things have changed so that’s enough for me to say at the present time.”

Uh, coach? You just did say something about it publicly. Of course, as long as Fulmer has a losing record. It’s open season on ripping him publicly.