Michigan Football Recruiting

[GrayBear]

As for Zook, his record speaks for himself.

Five years as a head coach. Record of 27-43.

A fella named Kirk Ferentz has been at it for 10 years--his record for his first five years: 16-40. After 10 years he's only 4 games over .500 (67-63)

You should keep your hate in check. It's very possible that Ron Zook won't pan out as a good head coach, but as everyone knows, success does not happen immediately (see, Iowa) nor does it necessarily sustain once achieved once (see Iowa - 2006). By most accounts he was coaching in a pressure cooker at Florida and was doomed to fail almost as soon as he got the job. I just wish people would give him a fair chance without parroting an uninformed judgment that "he can't coach".

Also, shouldn't a good coach know he is going aganist a Lou Groza winner kicker in a bowl game and not call him a running back multiple times

Yeah. That's my benchmark for excellence.

[laxative]

Zook=great recruiter...terrible coach.

[DanGenck]

Bottom line is that he's still a Division 1-A Coach and none of us are. So he must be at least kind of good at what he does...

[bste_lax]

As for Zook, his record speaks for himself.

Five years as a head coach. Record of 27-43.

A fella named Kirk Ferentz has been at it for 10 years--his record for his first five years: 16-40. After 10 years he's only 4 games over .500 (67-63)

You should keep your hate in check. It's very possible that Ron Zook won't pan out as a good head coach, but as everyone knows, success does not happen immediately (see, Iowa) nor does it necessarily sustain once achieved once (see Iowa - 2006). By most accounts he was coaching in a pressure cooker at Florida and was doomed to fail almost as soon as he got the job. I just wish people would give him a fair chance without parroting an uninformed judgment that "he can't coach".

Also, shouldn't a good coach know he is going aganist a Lou Groza winner kicker in a bowl game and not call him a running back multiple times

Yeah. That's my benchmark for excellence.

While I agree it doesn't happen overnight (i.e. Ferentz) but look what Hayden Fry left Ferentz compared to what Steve Spurrier left Zook. I am guessing most coaches would have taken Zook's 2001 Florida team over Ferentz's 1999 Iowa team in a heartbeat.

As for the Lou Groza/bowl comment, I was just pointing out a time when you think a coach should be prepared (pre-bowl game) and he had no clue who his opponent was and this was a couple weeks into bowl preparation.

As for Dan's comment, I totally agree, he must be doing something right if he is coaching Division I and I write computer code.

[GrayBear]

Zook=great recruiter...terrible coach.

I'll give you the same deal I gave the other guy. Give me some proof.

[laxative]

Bottom line is that he's still a Division 1-A Coach and none of us are. So he must be at least kind of good at what he does...

I will admit Ron Zook is probably a better D 1-A coach than I. Relative to other D 1-A coaches I think he leaves something to be desired.

[laxative]

Zook=great recruiter...terrible coach.

I'll give you the same deal I gave the other guy. Give me some proof.

Okay, maybe terrible is overboard. If Ron Zook took over for my program I would not be very happy. He is mediocre at best. He took Florida to 8-5, 8-5, 7-5 seasons. At Illinois he took his teams to 2-9, 0-8 Big 11, and 2-10, 1-7 in conference. Not exactly lighting the world on fire. I understand he has inherited a mess at Illinois and he has a pretty good recruiting class, but where is your evidence that he is not a bad coach?

Give me some proof.

[GrayBear]

I don't need to prove it because I didn't assert he was a great coach. Read back in my posts and note that I said it's very possible he won't prove to be a good one--we just don't know yet. I think that by the end of the 2008 season the proof will be there, because that's when he will have had a chance to coach up his recruits and put his system fully in place. If it's a losing season at that point with no good explanation then I'll agree. Not before.

Truth be told I kinda think he won't turn out that great too. My whole point is that most the people who babble "he can't coach" have no clue--they just like to hate him, have heard the claim from others who hate him (like disgruntled Spurrier-lovers and those jealous of his recruiting skill) and mindlessly repeat it without foundation even though a lot of respected coaches, like in the Ferentz example, also struggled early in their HC careers.

The the Florida experience isn't a fair barometer of his performance. Some Gators on this board can verify this or not, but if I'm not mistaken there was a movement to fire him started very soon after he was hired.--he just wasn't a popular choice and had to work under less than favorable circumstances. There's also a lot of hate going around, started (IMO) by an Indiana private school that shall remain nameless and its minions, claiming that Zook has cheated to get the recruits he has gotten. Being at NCAA whipping-boy Illinois just makes the task easier. See, for example, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/07/sports/ncaafootball/07illinois.html?em&ex=1171083600&en=7717a919be0c8e65&ei=5087%0A.

I'm just saying stop repeating things you can't substantiate just because it's easy. Give the guy a chance.

[Danny Hogan]

vince lombardi would have had a tough time following spurrier in gainesville.

had zook not been around to lower the standards, Saint Urban would have gotten some rough treatment for his first year performance.

[Sonny]

vince lombardi would have had a tough time following spurrier in gainesville.

had zook not been around to lower the standards, Saint Urban would have gotten some rough treatment for his first year performance.

Urban gets a pass because he is the 2nd guy to follow the legend Spurrier, not the 1st guy (Zook). Some folks were ready to burn Zook at the stake the second he was named the new HC after Spurrier.

Virtually every guy who has ever followed a legendary, long-time (successful) coach has had trouble on and off the field.... They do things differently, they say things differently, they run the program different. Change is stressful, especially to the fans/alums who have so much emotion vested into a program.

[Brent Burns]

I have noticed that it is similar at Alabama that filling Bear Bryant's shoes was very difficult except for one time that his protege, Gene Stallings won the national championship for the Crimson Tide. It seems that I lost track of how many HC's have come and gone at Alabama.

[Sonny]

Bama has won alot, but Ray Perkins and Bill Curry followed Bear Bryant. Stallings was way on down the list to follow the Bear.

[GrayBear]

Even if Zook turns out to be an unsuccessful coach, he's honest, hard-working and has character. I'll take that.

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/colleges/250404,CST-SPT-illfb09.article

[Beta]

Even if Zook turns out to be an unsuccessful coach, he's honest, hard-working and has character. I'll take that.

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/colleges/250404,CST-SPT-illfb09.article

Zook is a great guy. He did "average" at UF and is "struggling" with UIllinois.

But keep in mind he didn't inherit a 10 win team...

[Danny Hogan]

Even if Zook turns out to be an unsuccessful coach, he's honest, hard-working and has character. I'll take that.

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/colleges/250404,CST-SPT-illfb09.article

the part zook screwed up the most at uf was the off-field discipline. he had a very strong bond with his players, but they were getting arrested every other week (channing crowder mainly). THat is miami/FSU crap that the alumni did not want to put up with much longer.

the straw that broke the camel's back was when there was a scuffle at a frat house involving team members and players, zook shows up, the pres of the fraternity goes out to meet him thinking he'll squash it, he gets a little rowdy backing up his boys (talking sheet to the frat guys) and that was it.