All quiet on the Zook front
As rumors swirl about Ron Zook's job status, neither the coach nor his athletic director were talking Thursday.
Zook was not on campus Thursday and hasn't been available to media since Saturday's season-ending loss to Fresno State. The team's annual banquet is Saturday night in Champaign when the coach is expected to address the team at Memorial Stadium.
Athletic director Ron Guenther was in Champaign-Urbana on Wednesday.
Zook's fifth season at Illinois ended with a 3-9 record and a small home crowd for the Fresno State game, an indication of fan unrest.
At halftime of the Oct. 24 game at Purdue, Guenther said he supported Zook and hinted at possible changes among assistant coaches.
"The question that has come up and continues to come up is and continues to come up: Is there a change in Champaign? The reason the BTN (Big Ten Network) got it is because Glen Mason and I are going to have dinner next week. I said, 'Let's put one thing to rest. There will be some changes, but there won't be a change on the top.' There's a great deal of frustration, obviously, with the program at the moment. That's all I've got to say."
Guenther said the program will continue to be evaluated.
"I think it was really unfair to start jumping, at the end of the fifth year, on the guy. That's what I wanted to put aside. We're going to sit down and evaluate certainly. But there is no decision at the top."
Zook has four years remaining on a contract that pays $1.5 million per year. If Illinois were to buy out Zook, it would cost the school $5.2 million.
Sports information director Kent Brown on Thursday said Zook was returning — as planned — from a recruiting trip in California and that a handful of assistants also were out recruiting.
I find it interesting that many individuals who do not purchase season football tickets and the ones who get in free for whatever unjustified reasons are highly critical of Coach Zook, even though their collective voice declares that Illinois will never be a winning program and hasn't been for 100 years. Then, they want Coach Zook to make the team come to having a winning 10 and 2 record each year.
I hope that Mr. Guenther is the man of his word, that is, "[he]said the program will continue to be evaluated.
"I think it was really unfair to start jumping, at the end of the fifth year, on the guy. That's what I wanted to put aside. We're going to sit down and evaluate certainly. But there is no decision at the top."
Given the already established very difficult schedule for 2010 and beyond, Coach Zook will need at least two more years to "right" the ship in the correct direction.
I, for one, would like to see Mr. Zook be given the time to bring long term stability to the football program that is realistic for Illinois. Illinois is not Ohio State, Penn State nor Michigan, and it won't be in the short term.
In closing, I support Coach Zook and have purchased two season football tickets in the past, something I will do for the 2010 season as well.
The recruiting has gone down the tubes so it is time to make a change. If his contract allows offer him a job as a team advisor without any dutiesand and continue to pay him so he does not get the buy out. Hopefully he will get so bored he will seek another job, good luck.
First of all, Kducey, with all due respect, no one cares what Zook did at Florida or how many times he lost to teams from Mississippi ten years ago.
Second, in Zook's defense, Zook should not be penalized for being a good recruiter. No one should say, "Illinois is on par with every team in the conference from a talent stand point with the exception of Ohio State!" where do you think that talent came from? Zook brought in that talent that no coach prior has been able to do at Illinois. it would appear that Illinois should've had better records the last two years with all of Zook's talent. BUT . . . if Illinois had a coach who was a lesser recruiter but a better game coach, Illinois may very well have ended up 5-7 and 3-9 the last two years too.
The reason you pull the plug on Zook is because Zook's recruiting has probably hit a point of no return. When everyone says "Zook is going to be fired," it becomes self-prohesizing and talented high school kids won't gamble their college careers on a lame duck coach. Because Zook's strength is recruiting, when recruiting goes south on us, the sorry state of football recruiting is the reason, more than any thing else, why Zook should probably be bought out now.
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