Hopefully he can lead the Illini back to respectability.
Zook to replace Turner as Illini head coach
Posted: Monday December 6, 2004 7:29PM; Updated: Tuesday December 7, 2004 11:12AM
Coach Ron Zook takes over an Illinois team that was just 9-25 in its past three seasons.
AP
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) -- Illinois is turning to Ron Zook to reinvigorate its struggling football program.
The school scheduled an afternoon news conference to introduce the former Florida coach, said Kent Brown, the university's sports information director.
Zook and athletic director Ron Guenther talked last Tuesday, but Illinois could not name a new coach until a two-week waiting period to meet equal employment opportunity guidelines passed. The deadline was 5 p.m. Monday.
Florida fired Zook on Oct. 25, two days after the Gators lost at Mississippi State, satisfying a growing groundswell for his ouster that began two years earlier -- after he replaced Steve Spurrier.
But Zook coached the Gators for the rest of the season and led them to a 3-1 record in their final four games and an invitation to the Peach Bowl. In his two seasons at Florida, he went 23-14 with impressive victories over eventual national champion LSU last season and an upset of Florida State on Nov. 20, the Gators' first win in Tallahassee since 1986.
Zook has 26 years of coaching experience, including six years in the NFL as an assistant for the Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints, where he was defensive coordinator for two seasons.
At Illinois, Zook will replace Ron Turner, who was fired Nov. 22 -- two days after finishing his third straight losing season. Turner's teams won only five Big Ten games after winning the conference championship in 2001 and going to the Sugar Bowl.
Illinois won only once in 2003 and lost 14 consecutive Big Ten games between Nov. 23, 2003, and a 26-22 win over Indiana on Nov. 6. Two of the Illini's four wins in the past two seasons have been against Division I-AA opponents, Illinois State and Florida A&M.
Guenther replaced Turner after determining that recruiting problems had "reached a point of no return," he said.
Zook, 50, a native of Loudonville, Ohio, and a former assistant coach at Ohio State, has a reputation for being a tireless recruiter.
Zook to replace Turner as Illini head coach
Posted: Monday December 6, 2004 7:29PM; Updated: Tuesday December 7, 2004 11:12AM
Coach Ron Zook takes over an Illinois team that was just 9-25 in its past three seasons.
AP
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) -- Illinois is turning to Ron Zook to reinvigorate its struggling football program.
The school scheduled an afternoon news conference to introduce the former Florida coach, said Kent Brown, the university's sports information director.
Zook and athletic director Ron Guenther talked last Tuesday, but Illinois could not name a new coach until a two-week waiting period to meet equal employment opportunity guidelines passed. The deadline was 5 p.m. Monday.
Florida fired Zook on Oct. 25, two days after the Gators lost at Mississippi State, satisfying a growing groundswell for his ouster that began two years earlier -- after he replaced Steve Spurrier.
But Zook coached the Gators for the rest of the season and led them to a 3-1 record in their final four games and an invitation to the Peach Bowl. In his two seasons at Florida, he went 23-14 with impressive victories over eventual national champion LSU last season and an upset of Florida State on Nov. 20, the Gators' first win in Tallahassee since 1986.
Zook has 26 years of coaching experience, including six years in the NFL as an assistant for the Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints, where he was defensive coordinator for two seasons.
At Illinois, Zook will replace Ron Turner, who was fired Nov. 22 -- two days after finishing his third straight losing season. Turner's teams won only five Big Ten games after winning the conference championship in 2001 and going to the Sugar Bowl.
Illinois won only once in 2003 and lost 14 consecutive Big Ten games between Nov. 23, 2003, and a 26-22 win over Indiana on Nov. 6. Two of the Illini's four wins in the past two seasons have been against Division I-AA opponents, Illinois State and Florida A&M.
Guenther replaced Turner after determining that recruiting problems had "reached a point of no return," he said.
Zook, 50, a native of Loudonville, Ohio, and a former assistant coach at Ohio State, has a reputation for being a tireless recruiter.
