If you want more than 10, just ask me. I’ll give you an encyclopedia.I guess this article does not show any skill. Tony Siragusa could write it.
Maybe I should pull a Big Ten and give 11 reasons, but ESPN Magazine has already done that.
Well, I guess there is nothing to do but give you my 10 reasons, sit back, and watch you tell me what I missed.
1. Collapse against LSU
That was the final straw.
Two-and-one-half-minutes-remaining-and-first-and-ten-with-the-ball.
What Would Brian Boitano Do?
He’d run, run, run.
I don’t care that LSU has three timeouts remaining. I don’t care that Zook trusts his Enron stock more than his running game. I care about running the clock. I don’t want pass, run, pass. I don’t want the clock to stop. Punt if you must, but RUN THE CLOCK!
2. Tennessee game
If you need more in-depth information, check above.
Run out the clock! I could do it. Put me in. You need to be able to run out the clock AND/OR hold the opposition.
Close game, loss. You’ll notice a trend here.
3. Arkansas games last 2 years
’04: Get a big lead, allow a mediocre opponent back into it.
’03: Get a huge lead, allow a good opponent back into it and hold off on a bad call that allowed Florida to keep the ball and run out the clock, something you don’t see by a Zook team.
4. Miami game from 2003
They played like *%&@ the entire game, but they held the lead because Miami played like %&^$@#! *%&@ for the first two and one half quarters.
Any coach with even one brain cell would have made adjustments at half time because they would have realized that they were playing the quality of football of Army’s Practice Squad. But not Zook. But not Bozo.
5. Florida State game from 2003
This is the only game he has an excuse for. He had a freshman quarterback running the two-minute drill, so I can’t blame him for that, but he still found a way to allow Florida State to come back.
I will admit that the officiating was worse then a Staten Island Ferry.
6. Bowl Game Debacles
He was completely unprepared. He had no clue how to prepare for the Michigan game on New Year’s Day 2003.
Then on New Year’s Day 2004 against Iowa, unprepared.
LEARN A LESSON! History repeats itself, and you should know that because of how many times you must have taken it to graduate. By your fifth time repeating the course in the small brain of yours you should have seen a trend.
7. Vanderbilt struggle
There comes a point where you have to look at yourself in the mirror and realize that you are not doing your job right.
I thought the 21-17 Vanderbilt game would have done it, but I also thought Al Gore would win the election.
Vanderbilt lost this year to Rutgers, which lost to 1-AA sapling New Hampshire, and this is the best Vanderbilt team in nearly two decades.
8. Strategy: Tennessee 2003
First of all, he had no clue what he was doing from the get go.
Then, he threw the ball on 1st down from his own 20 or so with :33 seconds to go in the first half, then he ran it, then he passed it again.
MAKE UP YOUR MIND!
Personally, I would have run out the clock. So would have Napoleon Bonaparte.
But THEN, on the hail mary, 3 Gator defenders tried to catch it. KNOCK IT DOWN!
I would think a former NFL defensive coordinator would have made that clear, but as I said before I have thought incorrectly before.
9. Kentucky game ’04
I’m just plain shocked at how Florida score 28 points on Tennessee and only 20 on lousy Kentucky. At least they did not surrender much.
10. He just plain sucks
Every game he coached against a team not named Georgia was plain pathetic. He collapsed in late-game situations and allowed teams to hang around that should not have. He is just not fit to be a head coach in college football.
I hope you enjoyed reading this. I’ll get back to you in 3 years with “10 Reasons Mike Shanahan should be fired by Florida”.
4 replies on “10 Reasons Ron Zook should be fired by Florida”
elite11, what did you think was bad? You voted against it and I’d like to know what was bad so that I could correct it…
The Zook Firing Winning is winning. Either by a field goal or by seven touchdowns. Go ahead and get rid of Zook. Just hope your fate doesn’t match the one of the Nebraska Corbhuskers. They fired Solich and he was winning. Zook is not Spurrier. Heck, who is? Zook did not take over some two-bit program. He took over the University of Florida. Before Zook, they didn’t win less than nine games in a season for, what, the last 12 years. Players make mistakes and the coach gets blamed. Last second or last minute plays happen. Like the LSU and Tennessee games. Balls from long passes should be knocked down. Just use the prevent defense. Talk to the Miami Hurricanes about a guy named Flutie and a pass he threw back in 1984. Have a discussion with the Michigan Wolverines about a pass thrown by Kordell Stewart that should have been knocked down. Many analysts ask, “Why were only three players rushing Stewart?” That sounds like a coaching call to me. Back to Zook and Florida. He has won more games than he has lost. See where the Gators are next after Zook is ousted. They will either be a) keeping teams like Kentucky and Vanderbilt company; or worse b) looking up to teams like Kentucky and Vanderbilt. Hey Florida, YOU ARE THE NEXT NEBRASKA! Otherwise the article was pretty good.
Zook was winning? So far: 22-14.
Wins have come over Vanderbilt (3-0), Kentucky (3-0), UAB (1-0), Ohio (1-0), San Jose State (1-0), Florida A&M (1-0), Eastern Michigan (1-0), and Middle Tennessee State (1-0).
Other than that: 10-14.
None of those teams (other than 1-AA FAMU) completed winning seasons the year they beat them. The last 2 years he beat South Carolina and they too finished with losing marks. This year they are bowl eligable. That makes 14/22 wins over teams with losing marks (with Arkansas about to join that trend). He beat Georgia twice, Tennessee once, LSU once, Arkansas twice, and Auburn once.
Only 8 wins over teams with winning marks, and that number can be crashed to 7 soon. Barely 2 a year!
His close WINS have come over lowsy Kentucky (twice), lowsy Vanderbilt (once), Georgia (twice), Auburn (once), Arkansas (once) and South Carolina. 8 close wins and 4 against lowly teams (5 against sub-.500 teams). 4 of those close wins came in his first year.
Close lose: Ole Miss (twice), Michigan (once), Miami (FL) (once), Florida State (once), Tennessee (once), LSU (once), Mississippi State (once), and Georgia (once). 9 close loses and 7 in the last 2 years.
Close games record: 8-9
Close games record in first year: 4-2
Close games record in second year: 4-3
Close games record in third year: 0-4
A close game is a game decided by 8 points or less.
He has not been winning.
He has a losing mark in close games and only 8/22 wins have come against bowl-eligable teams.
He has won only 3 close games against quality opponents. He has lost 8 such games.
Also, his teams have been no-shows twice in bowls. Zook had to go.
No Big Deal When a coach’s record is looked at, no one takes into consideration close wins, lousy teams, etc. Look at the Miami Hurricanes under Jimmy Johnson or Larry Coker, and Virginia Tech under Frank Beamer. They have or had great records but no one pays attention to who the wins came against. They are still wins. Joe Paterno, Bobby Bowden, Steve Spurrier have all beat up on lousy teams. I still believe it is a “W” in the win column. Who defined a close game is decided by 8 points or less? Is that in the ten commandments? Or the NCAA rule book? Eight points is barely more than a touchdown and extra point. If a team is losing by 3 near the end of the game and they miss a field goal and the other team scores a quick touchdown. If the first team loses by 10 is that not a close game? Sounded close. All that stuff about quality wins, close wins, etc. means nothing. Zook doesn’t have Spurrier’s record. Who does? Winning is winning.