It finally happened. Florida coach Ron Zook was shown the doorperhaps every Gator supporter was hoping he’d go throughsince the first day he took over as head coach in 2001.
Frankly, Zook’s firing is no surprise. Zook had no chanceat Florida, none, not with the unrealistic expectations placed onhim having to replace a legendary coach. Steve Spurrier dominatedteams in the Southeastern Conference for 12 years at Florida, andthat’s what Gator fans expected from his predecessor.
Unfortunately, the landscape of college football breeds thistype of thinking, and the reaction to Zook’s 4-3 record thisyear is exactly what’s wrong with college football. Nebraskafired Frank Solich last year after he went 9-3, then replaced himwith Bill Callahan. At week’s end, the Cornhuskers were 4-3and there are rumors Callahan could be gone.
Everyone wants to win now, and when a coach has success in ashort time (such as Bob Stoops at Oklahoma, Larry Coker at Miami,Jim Tressell at Ohio State and Nick Saban at LSU), people think itcan happen with the snap of a finger.
A team cannot win every game every year, no matter what theschool, who the coach is or even if it recruits all the topprospects around the country. The parity in the sport is soabundant that teams that once had dynasties are going to go throughlosing cycles once in a while. This was just Florida’stime.
Despite all that, there was no way Ron Zook was going to havethe same type of success Spurrier had.
Maybe in two or three more years when Zook could have recruitedmore players with quarterback Chris Leak’s talent, perhaps hecould have moved into the upper echelon of the conference. But forhim to pick up where Spurrier left off, which believe me was whatthat fan base wanted, was a pipe dream.
The Web site www.fireronzook.com was cooking early Mondaymorning. Before it crashed, I went on to find the words,”It’s happening,” and once inside the site, allit said was “Yes!” Funny stuff, but again, the site wasup and running before Zook ever coached a game at Florida.
Let’s look at Zook’s record. He went 8-5 his firstyear where players were still learning his system, then 8-5 againwith a freshman quarterback. Eight wins is nothing to scoff at formost programs, but at UF, it’s a second-rate season with athird-rate coach.
Things got worse for Zook this year, especially afterZook’s run-in with some frat boys. The Gators’embarrassing 38-31 loss to 24-point underdog Mississippi State lastweek, which dropped them to 4-3, was the last straw.
Zook may have been only the third best coach in the state behindCoker and Bobby Bowden of Florida State, but running a coach with a20-13 record off is wrong.
There are 117 teams in Division I-A, and I’d venture tosay at least 75 of those would easily accept 20 wins intwo-and-a-half years. But it’s Florida — a teamthat’s won one national title (1996), while teams likeOklahoma (seven national titles) have struggled in the late 1990s,but rebuilt its program.
Why even hire the guy in the first place if he wasn’t theman you wanted?
Everyone knows Athletic Director Jeremy Foley wanted Bob Stoopsthree years ago, but settling for Zook only set the programback.
If Foley was smart, he’d find a worthy successor, who thespoiled Gator community will get behind, and stick with him throughthick and thin. There are three other Division-I colleges in thestate with worse records than UF, and the Gator Nation should bethankful they haven’t got it worse.