Quote of the day

Illinois didn't play like it was trying to get embattled coach Ron Zook fired, it played like it wanted him arrested.

That was from Phil Miller in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Zook fired! Again.

So it took the University of Illinois more than twice as long to come to the realization that Ron Zook is not the answer to anything except a trivia question about the first successful fireyourcoach.com web site. Does that make them twice as dumb? No. I've come the realization that it was because the Illini faithful were twice as desperate. But alas facts are facts and a deaf-mute baboon could coach a football team better than the old Zooker.

Here's video of him reading a statement today:

He's gracious now. We'll see how long that lasts. Especially if his successor wins. It didn't last long after he got canned at Florida. I've always believed the best indicator of future performance is past performance. That's why I knew Zook would fail at Illinois and why I think he'll be on the record soon spouting sour grapes despite the fact that he was given every opportunity to succeed and was made quite wealthy in the process.

From a Tribune article we garner this nugget of Zookese excuses:

I think our program is very close, I really do. We just didn't finish a few games here and there.

The old we're getting better routine. But waiting for Zook's teams to finally turn the corner is the same as waiting for Godot.

The article goes on to say:

His arrival in 2005 brought higher expectations but also some skepticism after he was forced out in his third season at Florida. He achieved some terrific recruiting coups, signing Rashard Mendenhall and Vontae Davis.

That's not exactly true. Mendenhall was a Ron Turner commit who didn't de-commit when Zook became the coach.

Well, that's that. This site will stay up. No need to take it down. No doubt that Ron Zook will wind up in the booth somewhere and continue to make obscene amounts of money and spout his incoherent ramblings. ESPN used to be the home of the fraternity of failed former coaches, not so much anymore so we'll see. Either way, there will always be a place that needs to fire Ron Zook.

Gophered

A Minnesota victory SHOULD guarantee a Zook canning, so let's go Golden Gophers!

-Anonymous Commenter

Well, his words about the game were prophetic, let's see what happens with Zook's job. In a collapse of Zookese proportions the Illini went 0-6 after starting the season undefeated at 6-0. Though technically bowl eligible it would be crime to all this team to travel anywhere as a "reward" unless there's a new bowl game in Siberia I haven't heard about (possible).

Was reading a recap of the game at the Chicago Tribune and had to laugh out loud:

The loss was especially surprising because the Illini played perhaps their worst game of the season against one of the worst teams in the Big Ten.

Minnesota, which entered the game ranked 110th offensively and 93rd defensively in the nation, stormed to a 27-0 lead as the Illini appeared energy depleted.

Energy depleted? Is that what the fancy journalists call giving up? That's what this was, a team that simply gave up. They gave up on the season, they gave up on themselves, they gave up on their fans and they gave up on moRon Zook.

For old times sake I dropped by the forum that used to be called Illiniboard. I found a thread entitled: New Coaching Comments Thread. Here's some highlights:

Chances were slim to none this coaching staff would be back, and slim just left the building.

/thread

Shortly afterwards this admonition:

Posting rules still apply.

Yes, I know about you and your silly rules, Nazi. Anyone that posts anything negative about Zook gets banned. Well there's too many of them now, they'll have to ban the whole community. Then there was this shining nugget:

Have we seen our final swinging gate?

Zook's special teams really looked ridonkulous with that swinging gate formation. And then there was this gem:

I am an Illini grad living in Florida and I look back to his hiring and all the Florida fans that laughed out loud to me when it happened. They knew he could recruit, but to make the recruits happy, you have to be able to coach and there were many many times in Florida games when he made seemingly bonehead calls where it seemed he was oblivious to the game situation, but we certainly have not seen that at Illinois.....ha

Bingo! No Gator fan cares about Illinois football, but you guys didn't want to listen to reason.

I just hope Zook was smarter with the 1.7 million dollar salary than he was with clock management. If so, he'll be fine. Take a year or two off and coach at a mid-major if still wants to work.

This guy made millions since 2002 at Florida and Illinois. I echo the sentiment, I hope he didn't spend it all on wet suits and ski boats because this clown won't be coaching again. A mid-major would be dumb to hire him.

So we can probably look forward to the firing announcement tomorrow or Monday at the latest.

Getting the old photoshop ready. Good night folks, I may have to start working on firewillmuschamp.com.

FRZ Redux

I was recently contacted via email by a journalist writing a story about the whole fireyourcoach.com web site phenomenon. He had a couple of questions about this blog, asking if I was the original webmaster of fireronzook.com. I told him the truth which was, no. As I clearly state in the first post of this blog, this is a tribute to the original fireronzook.com site. Anyway I exchanged a couple of emails with the guy and he didn't even mention this blog in his piece. Oh well. I thought there was an interesting angle there but apparently not. Anyway, read the article and enjoy. Fact is that none of these other sites that has popped up has been as a big a success or had such a lasting impact as the original FRZ. Often imitated but never duplicated.

Zook walks from presser, the end is near.

It's been more than two years since I posted on this blog. The reason for that is simple. Real life intruded. I just didn't have the time to care about Ron Zook and his moronic ways. Remember, I'm not vested in the Illinois program. I'm a Florida Gator and our Zook nightmare ended a while back. I had my reasons for maintaining this blog which I've outlined in previous postings but it was also good fun to poke at the Zooker since he always seemed to jab UF whenever he was given the opportunity.

It's safe to say that the Zook experiment at Illinois is coming to a close and it was a bust. The man simply does not know how to elevate a program. We could dance around the issue but in plain English, he's dumb. Running a modern-day college football program in a major conference is complex stuff and a dummy just isn't going to get the job done. Anyone who has heard Zook speak understands that his intellectual capacity is below average.

This year the fighting Zookers got off to a deceiving 6-0 start. But as with water, Zook's teams always seek their level. After 4 straight losses to legitimate teams, Zook is on the hot seat again and walked out of a press conference when the questions began to come about how long he could last under the current circumstances.

For all you Illini fans, I harbor no ill will toward you. I understand why you pinned your hopes on Zook back in 2005 when he came aboard. You wanted him to be the magic bullet. Recruiting was your answer. And Ron Zook was the "master recruiter". But we Florida fans tried to explain. We tried patiently to educate you on who this man is, having seen him up close as an assistant and a head coach over many years.

You can argue with my methods, my style, whatever. But you can't argue with the substance of my message. Ron Zook is a terrible coach. But as they say with alcoholics, the first step toward recovery is to acknowledge that you have a problem. You can thank me later.

Answering reader comments

This is the level of intellect of the typical Ron Zook athletic supporter:

Hey Dickhead what do you have to say about the game yesterday[?]

Ron Zook for coach of the year. That's what I have to say. With that win coach Zook beats his first FBS opponent of the season. Way to go there Ron!

Is one unlikely win per season, like the one against Florida State in his last season with Florida or the one against OSU in the Rose Bowl season, supposed to make everyone forget what a shithead he is during all the other games?

Here's an idea. Schedule Illinois State for 12 games every year. Then Ron might have another winning season. Dickhead.

Give Zook the Hook

That's the name of the latest addition to the fireronzook movement. You'll find this new site in the sidebar or just click here.

Zook gets vote of confidence

And lays (another) egg.

I was just looking at the Illini page on Yahoo Sports. This is too funny. At the top of the page it says:

Illinois Fighting Illini

1-6 (0-5), 11th Big Ten

That's right Illini fans, you're 11th in the Big TEN!

Guys, it's official. Ron Zook is the worst coach in the history of the game of football. He took a great Gator program and made it mediocre and he's taken a terrible Illinois program and made it even more terrible, if that were possible. If you look up "Fluke" in the dictionary, the 2007 season is mentioned there as an example.

Have fun folks. I know I am.

Emulate this!

Too funny. Take a look at this fantastic piece of comedy posted at Daily Illini.com under the headline, "Zook, Illini attempt to emulate 2007 season."

2007 is of course the high water mark for Zook's tenure at Illinois with a 9-3 record and a Rose Bowl appearance (thanks to Ohio State playing in the BCSCG) where the Illini were blown out.

So the solution of course is to emulate what was done that year according to Zook:

“I’ve already done it,” Illinois head coach Ron Zook said of trying to make changes to emulate the 2007 season. “I’ve already gone back and tried to do a lot of the same things with practice times and the whole bit.”

Yes, changing those practice times will surely put you back on the winning track. Of course, if that was the formula for success why did he ever deviate from it?

But Zook's brilliance (sarcasm) continues:

“One of the things, if you go back and look at that year, is that we had some guys who made some plays and you wondered how they made them,” Zook said. “We’re not making those plays this year and even to a certain extent we weren’t last year either. A lot of that has to do with passion.”

Yeap. Passion, that's what the Illini need! Not coaching, not leadership, not discipline, and certainly not X's and O's. It's passion and making plays that leave you in wonderment.

The next few paragraphs are a scathing indictment of Zook:

The Illini have fallen to the bottom of the Big Ten despite having plenty of returning talent.

Quarterback Juice Williams returned to become a four-year starter at quarterback after leading the Big Ten in total offense last season.

He was supposed to have one of the nation’s most heralded receiving corps at his disposal, led by junior wide receiver Arrelious Benn, who is projected to be one of the top receivers taken in next year’s NFL draft if he decides to leave early.

ESPN’s Mel Kiper has Jon Asamoah rated as the nation’s top senior offensive guard for next year’s NFL draft, and Illinois has three seniors who have seen significant playing time since coming to campus — Williams, cornerback Dere Hicks and defensive end Doug Pilcher.

“I remember in the summer during the Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon, a lot of the buzz was about Illinois’ talent, how they were going to be really the most talented team in the league,” Purdue head coach Danny Hope said. “They still might have the most talent in the league.”

But talent alone doesn’t win football games, and Zook has largely failed to capitalize on his highly rated recruiting classes. Of Zook’s 2007 recruiting class, which was rated as the No. 20 class in the nation by Rivals.com, only five are currently in the starting lineup. Eight players from the class of 21 are no longer on the team for various reasons.

Ouch. Here's a Zookese response to the lack of wins from such "talented" squad:

“A lot of that has to do with passion,” Zook said. “When our guys are finally tired of this and decide, ‘That’s it, I’m sick of it, I’m not going to take it anymore,’ that’s when we’ll get back on track.”

Zook pointed to the up-and-down nature of football in both college and the NFL.

“There are a lot of things that have to go right to have a successful season, and as I told them last night, the Tennessee Titans had the best record in football last year,” Zook said about the now 0-6 Titans. “They’re basically the same guys, and coach (Jeff) Fisher is a great football coach, but for whatever reason, things aren’t clicking and that’s the nature of this game sometimes.”

There's that blame the players line again mixed in with a "hey look over there!". Of course Zook just has bad luck. Not his fault. Nothing is ever his fault. Those Illini just keep improving and improving.

And this guy has the balls to speak ill of Urban Meyer. I've never heard Meyer blame a player for a loss or simply chalk up a failure to bad luck. Make your own luck, loser.

My condolences

Well folks, another Saturday and another Zooking loss for the Illini in the books. A 30-0 shut-out. Ouch. My heart really goes out to the fans and alums of the University of Illinois. It's now beginning to dawn on you that everything all of the Florida fans said was true.

There have been some comments on of the other posts here about the Illinois' rightful place in the world of college football. By and large most of the fans are resigned to the idea that Illinois can't really be a power and that Zook represented a chance at that with his "recruiting prowess" and that the Illini could never be the Gators. I disagree. Illinois is a big state school from a big state, playing in major conference with a lot of talent to be had. But you do need a coach who can recruit. And by that I mean a COACH who can recruit. Zook is not a coach. He's a recruiting coordinator at best. He can't strategize his way out of a wet paper bag.

A word of advice to your athletic director. When you finally decide to dump clown Zook, perhaps you should consider a young up-and-coming coach from a lesser school. Florida hired Steve Spurrier from Duke and Urban Meyer from Utah. Don't hire a failure from a more important football program. Look at the team that mopped up the floor with you today. They hired their coach from division 1AA.

Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends

Hello all!

I see that I'm being graced by hundreds of new readers. I'm sure you'll have many questions, like "Is this the original fireronzook.com?" or is this author beneath the bag the actual BAGHEAD that began fireronzook.com?".

The answer to both is "no!"

Check the sidebar and read about this blog, why it exists and will continue to exist. I could provide links here so that you don't have to hunt, but I don't feel like it. It's holiday for fuck's sake!

So make yourselves at home, bookmark the page and if you are a loyal fan of the Illini then remember Bobby Knight's reputed remarks about an inevitable rape.

Enjoy!

And so it begins

For a variety of reasons I have had ZERO time to follow Zook's incoherent rambling and the travails of Illinois football much less post anything to this blog but a recent flurry of visits and a few comment awoke me from my slumber.

Zook and the boys shit the bed against Mizzou in the season opener.

Perfect.

But he recruited all of Florida's players, right?

Hahahahahahaha

Feel free to vent in the comments folks.