How Johnny Majors recruited a Pittsburgh native to play for Tennessee football | Toppmeyer

Eddie Streno received the football tickets through his mail route.

Streno delivered mail in Pittsburgh’s Oakland community, and, during fall of 1976, folks along his route gifted him Pitt Panthers tickets on Saturday mornings.

Streno’s son, Glenn, then a ninth-grader, headed out in pursuit of the tickets on home game days. He rode the streetcar from the family’s home in the Beechview neighborhood into downtown Pittsburgh, then caught a bus to Oakland to retrieve the tickets from his dad.

The seats changed from game to game, but Glenn Streno was just happy to be in the stadium watching coach Johnny Majors’ Panthers and star running back, Tony Dorsett.

The timing couldn’t have been better. Streno had started playing football the year prior, his interest in the sport was growing, and Pitt possessed the nation’s best team. He cheered the Panthers to an undefeated national championship, led by Pitt’s revered coach from Lynchburg, Tennessee.

“In the '70s, the Steelers won four Super Bowls, the Pirates won two World Series and then of course Pitt won a national championship and had Tony Dorsett, the Heisman Trophy winner,” Streno recalled.

“And Coach Majors was as big of a sports celebrity icon in Pittsburgh as Terry Bradshaw and Joe Greene and Willie Stargell.”

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Majors left Pitt to coach Tennessee, his alma mater, after the ’76 season, and within a few years, Streno was playing for Majors and the Vols.

A three-year letterman offensive lineman who earned All-SEC honors as a senior center in 1983, Streno remains among the few Pittsburgh natives to play for the Vols. The chance to play for Majors influenced his decision.

“He was a big star (as Pitt’s coach). I was a big Coach Majors fan,” Streno said. “When he came back to recruit me, it was obviously a big draw.”

Streno, who lives in Knoxville, has organized a group of about 75 friends, family members and former Vols athletes who will be at Acrisure Stadium to watch Tennessee (1-0) play No. 14 Pitt (1-0) on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC) in the Johnny Majors Classic.

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Each program cherishes Majors. He earned induction into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player for his exploits in the 1950s as the Vols’ single-wing tailback. His dual standing as a star player and then a decorated Tennessee coach gives him Mount Rushmore status within Vols athletics.

“He is Tennessee football, as far as I’m concerned,” Streno said.

Iowa State and Pitt celebrate Majors as a preeminent program rebuilder. Pitt won a single game the season before Majors' arrival. By his fourth season, the Panthers were 12-0, including a thumping of Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.

“He saved Pitt football,” Pitt historian Sam Sciullo Jr. told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette after Majors died at age 85 on June 3, 2020.

And Pitt fans appreciated him for that – and for the person he was.

“He had the Southern accent and charm,” Streno said. “The media really took to him and liked him. He’s charismatic and brought energy and passion, and I think everyone was just drawn to that.”

Including Streno.

Streno’s college choice came down to Pitt and Tennessee. Vols assistant John Julies, the lead recruiter on Streno, encouraged him to broaden his horizons.

“He said, ‘You can go to Pitt and stay in Pittsburgh the rest of your life, but there’s a whole world out there. Take off your blinders,’ ” Streno said.

Streno felt an “instant connection” with UT when he visited Knoxville. The Streno family hosting Majors for a home recruiting visit made a mark, too.

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“We were excited to have Coach Majors in our house because of what he meant to Pittsburgh and his stature in Pittsburgh,” Streno said. “It was a celebrity coming home.”

Streno described Majors as a disciplinarian who expected players to work hard but enjoy themselves on the field.

During Majors’ latter years, Streno developed more of a personal relationship with his former coach.

A man of varied interests, Majors was a voracious reader, a history buff and a supporter of the arts and the symphony.

“Such a fascinating person,” Streno said, “even outside of football.”

When Streno considered Majors’ legacy at Pitt and UT, he elucidated why Saturday’s matchup is aptly named the Johnny Majors Classic.

“We talked about Pittsburgh a lot. He always had friends there," Streno said. "He loves the city. The city loves him. And, of course, at Tennessee, he’s a legend.”

Blake Toppmeyer is an SEC Columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer. If you enjoy Blake’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it. Also, check out his podcast, SEC Football Unfiltered, or access exclusive columns via the SEC Unfiltered newsletter. 

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: How Johnny Majors got a Pittsburgh native to play for Tennessee Vols