Zook

I never understood the hiring of Ron Zook at Florida to replace Steve Spurrier.

Florida's AD made a play for Bob Stoops, who had the good sense not to try to replace a legend at Florida while he's well on his way to making his own legend at Oklahoma (ask Mack Brown). And Florida's AD made a play for Mike Shanahan, who had the good sense not to try to replace a legend when he has a legitimate NFL playoff contender in Denver.

And then Florida's AD turned to Ron Zook, who was an assistant that Spurrier once demoted.

And Zook's version of the Gators were totally embarrassed this weekend on their home field by LSU, losing consecutive conference games for the first time in a decade, dropping their record to a decidely un-Spurrier-like 4-3.

Steve Spurrier built Florida into such a powerhouse that they could have hired almost any coach but one likely to compete for a National Championship (Stoops) or Super Bowl (Shanahan). Instead, they hired a guy who just seems overmatched by it all -- just like he did when the old ballcoach demoted him. Florida's AD should be feeling as much heat right now as Zook for messing the thing up.

[Posted at 21:56 CST on 10/13/02] [Link]