Ok now it's Football time

[Illinidad]

Let's discuss...what's the word from campus?

[Dan]

Good question. Is it possible to pull out 6 or 7 victories this year?

[illini4everjp]

I saw a quote from Zook a couple days ago (sorry, can't find the link) but basically that he wants to start new and from the beginning but sees alot of promise in the team. I take this as a good sign because he isn't sugar coating the situation that the team is in. I think a 5 or 6 win season should be considered as a "sucess" and contending 2 or 3 after that for the B10 tournament.

The Ron Zook era is starting at Illinois and I couldn't be more excited!

[krillini76]

Yes, on to football. Zook should be able to get us a Motor City Bowl berth at least.

And if anyone wants to discuss Cubbies, I'll be over in the other forum too. 23 hits yesterday. not too shabby.

Great season, Illini! Way to go.

And thanks, Dan, for having this site. I like Illiniboard and all, but this place is 1000x better!!!

[The Sprouting Divot]

I don't think I'm quite ready for Illinois football just yet...

[orange100]

NEW FOOTBALL SIG COMING SOON! :cool:

[illini4everjp]

I am using Illini Football as part of my Illini Basketball mourning, but really, I can't wait, I think Zook will do great things for this program and when that happens, the AD should get a raise for everything that Illini athletics has done over the last couple of years.

[illini4everjp]

59 Days, 14 hours till Illini Football returns to glory :D :D :D

Beat Rutgers!!!!!!!!!

[#1AugustineFan]

JP you have too much time on your hands... lol :p

[illini4everjp]

Lets get pumped up people!

[Dan]

Looks great. Remove the tinker toys!

[illini4everjp]

Fox's 2005 Preseason Rankings

http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/3727628

69. Illinois
The team was young and hit by injuries and inconsistent play over the last two years. Somehow, this is still a young team despite welcoming back 15 starters and both kickers. Pierre Thomas and E.B. Halsey are two good backs to work with and WR Kendrick Jones should put up decent numbers as the number one receiver in a good passing attack. The quarterback situation will sort itself out with Tim Brasic looking good this spring, and there's hope for improvement on defense with good safeties and decent pass rushing prospects. Now it's up to Ron Zook and his staff to upgrade energy and make the team a winner.

Relative strength: Running back
Relative Weakness: Linebacker
Star of the team: RB Pierre Thomas, Jr.
Key game: Sept. 24 vs. Michigan State

[orange100]

I think we can crack the top 30 this year. Zook is blowing minds with his recruiting lately, if you haven't been following the scout and rivals recruiting boards. We are getting some big-time players, and I see us in a BCS game in two years. Get on the bandwagon now while there is still room. I will have no patience for Noob fans when the we storm the top 10 again! :D

[illini4everjp]

Camp Rantoul in 3 and a half week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Dan]

Football cannot commence soon enough.

54 days until the opener. Side note- the football countdown on the official site doesn't work using Firefox, http://fightingillini.collegesports.com/

[illini4everjp]

SI Football Preview for the Illini!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/specials/preview/2005/teams/ten/illinois.html

[jcbear999]

With the FOOTBALL season getting started, I (as well as everyone else) notices our players are young. Still, I feel that with Zook coaching them we will get more victories and get back to the top of the Big Ten.

CRUSH RUTGERS!!

[illini4everjp]

45 Days, 18 Hours till Illini Football!

DESTROY RUTGERS!

[#1AugustineFan]

Too much time on your hands, JP.... too much time.

[krillini76]

This year is going to be such a free pass for Zook with the verbal commitments he's been able to get. So no pressure, Illini. Let's do it!

Motor City Bowl, Motor City Bowl!...

Let's hear it!

Motor City Bowl! Motor City Bowl!...

[illini4everjp]

ESPNEWS to broadcast 2005 Big Ten Football Media Day!

http://bigten.collegesports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/071405aaa.html

Let the Ron Zook era begin!

[illini4everjp]

http://graphics.fansonly.com/schools/ill/graphics/auto/CampRantoul2005-220w.gif

Less than two weeks away!

[illini4everjp]

http://www.herald-review.com/articles/2005/07/28/sports/mark_tupper/1009203.txt

"I'm very pleased by the number of new accounts that have come on board," said Johnson, an assistant athletics director. "Ron Zook has been a dynamic salesman for the program. When we needed a theme for this season, he came up with it. It's "I believe," and the idea is that I believe in the Illini football program and this coaching staff and what we're going to do to get it done. That logo is on everything we do - on schedule cards, posters and in our print, TV and radio ads.

[illini4everjp]

33 more days and we will be living the dream that is Illinois Football!

[illini4everjp]

Camp Rantoul in 2 Days

http://images.sportsline.com/u/photos/football/college/img8697208.jpg

[Illinidad]

If he can coach as well as he can recruit, we are in for a great season :D :D :D :D :D :D

[orange100]

camp rantoul begins in 1 hour!

I freakin believe, baby! I am so pumped up for football!

[orange100]

errr....... camp rantoul begins in 25 hours.

...been on vacation........ :o

[orange100]

full article- zook gets some media respect (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/sportsline/main8696727.shtml)

"We've been waiting for The Zooker to say stuff like this since he was dumped by Florida on Oct. 25. You can't say the man screwed up Florida. The Gators are favored by some to win the SEC this year under Urban Meyer. Zook handed his replacement Heisman candidate Chris Leak at quarterback. The receivers might be the best in the country.

Make fun of him "failing" at Florida. Mock his landing at moribund Illinois. Now sit back and take some, Gator Nation.

"The expectation level is more in line with reality," Zook said of Illinois. "When we first went down there (Florida), the expectation level was not the same as the talent there. I think it's more in line with the talent level we're at now."

Translation: Spurrier didn't leave him much.

"It ain't going to get any better," Zook said of Florida.

Translation: There's a reason Florida is favored by some to win the SEC. The cupboard has been left full.

"He should be (favored)," he said of Meyer. "Them and LSU are probably the most talented teams in the SEC."

OK, OK, we get it. No translation needed. The man can still talk.

"I've got an athletic director, he understands the game of football. He was a coach. He played there, he coached there," Zook said of his new boss, Ron Guenther.

Translation: Foley turned against his coach only when it became obvious the tide had turned.

"Oh, Jiminy Christmas, overblown?" Zook said of the infamous confrontation with the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity two days before a loss to Tennessee. "I'll tell you exactly what happened. I don't want to say it on tape, but ..."

And so, off the record, Zook gushes about his frustration. How he was hung out to dry. How he had no idea it was like that in Gainesville. How he deserves some credit.

Yes, the firing was probably inevitable after the loss to Mississippi State. But no coach in recent history has twisted in the wind like this. Remember that Zook stayed after the firing, went 3-1 and walked into the sunset with his head high -- having helped wean Gator Nation off Spurrier."

Someone had to do it, fall on the visor, er, grenade. No one could live up to or live in Spurrier's shadow. That Zook did it with such class should be his true legacy.

[illini4everjp]

Players should be reporting to Memorial Stadium right about now :D :D :D

Interesting article about Zook, expectations and where Illinois was and is headed.

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-050803downey,1,2072108.column?coll=cs-home-utility

Zook is lucky that he wasn't asked what it's like to come coach football at "a basketball school," as Indiana's new coach, Terry Hoeppner, was.

"Football's a game of adversity. There are going to be bad things that happen during a season and during a game. It's all about how you handle adversity. You have to keep on keepin' on."

And sure enough, one of the things Zook mentioned was: "What our basketball team did, for example. There's no reason why our football program can't be the same way."

[Dan]

You have to keep on keepin' on!

:)

[Idothis4]

If we just find somebody to throw the ball, the offense is going to be very good. Pierre Thomas is a legit superstar, E.B. Halsey could start for almost any other team out there, and Rashard Mendenhall is going to be a freaking stud as well.

I'm hoping for 6-5 and a bowl bid, but hey as long as I see significant improvement on the field like I have seen in the recruiting (which i'm confident we will see) life is good. Zookster is gonna lead the team out of the darkness.

[illini4everjp]

Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa . . . whoa . . . whoa . . . whoa . . . whoa . . . whoa :eek:

www.coachronzook.com

[#1AugustineFan]

Just the thing we all need to get us pumped up... or in some cases, more pumped up for football season... That, my friends, was awesome!

And they should so have something like that for Coach Weber!

[illini4everjp]

I noticed that through 75% of the video they are wearing the Orange uniforms! Sign for the future? Only 29 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Dan]

More Zook for ya, ESPN free video-

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/index

[illini4everjp]

You can never have enough Zook

[orange100]

love that coachronzook.com video.!!!
good link on the espn vid, dan. THANKS>

:eek: :eek: :eek:
camp rantoul is ON.

[tnillinifan]

did you read yesterday's article in Chicago tribune about Zook? Good read--- he is right about the negativism-- we are die hard Illini and Big Ten fans right in the heart of SEC country. The mindset of the SEC is win at all costs- $$$ rules. Currently at UT I think 4 or 5 football players are in legal trouble. I saw some stats on GPA's and graduation rates in the SEC vs. other conferences and it was pitiful. They will let any thug play sports down south as long as that kid will win games. Zook is so much better off here at UofI!!!

[illini4everjp]

http://fightingillini.collegesports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/080705aaa.html

Links to audio from the Illini Media Day.

24 more days till Illini Football!

[illini4everjp]

Get ready folks, its Zook time.

http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050811/SPORTS/508110345/1006

[illini4everjp]

http://media.scout.com/Media/Image/24/243132.jpg

Ron Zook is my personal Hero

[#1AugustineFan]

http://media.scout.com/Media/Image/24/243132.jpg
http://www.rpjministries.org/media/Photos/061405_Cubs_Game/images/_MG_0057.jpg

Two Illini Greats! :)

[illini4everjp]

12 Days till Illini Football!

[illini4everjp]

http://insider.espn.go.com/insider/magazine/magBlog?id=1966084

Here it is

We all know (Ron) Zook can recruit his (butt) off. How soon before he has (Illinois) back in the top 10? Do you agree that he got a raw deal and that AD really screwed him? -- Tyler in Moline, Ill.
(Me, glancing at imaginary watch on wrist ...) Um, probably never. I do think he can get them up to respectable, maybe even a mid-level bowl in a few years, but I just don't see "top 10 program" coming from him. Certainly not there.
I think one of his biggest challenges (aside from just the game-day management stuff that seemed to vex him) will be taking over the Chicago area, which should be one of the more interesting turf battles to eye over the next couple of years. Kirk Ferentz and Iowa have really done well there in the last four years or so. Bill Callahan, an Illinois guy, parlayed some special ties in that region to do well last year. And now Charlie Weis has really targeted it, much more than Ty Willingham did when he was at ND.
That said, Zook will get some players there, and I think he'll change some of the attitude that has been in that program the past few years. He does have a few good running backs now, but the defense still needs tons of work. I think if he wins four games this fall, it'll be a good year. Did he get a raw deal at UF? Maybe. He didn't really get a chance to coach his guys, and King of the Text Message, Urban Meyer should be sending Zook thank you notes daily for leaving the cupboard stocked.
In truth, I think the Zooker was to Gainesville what Mandy Moore is to "Entourage." Something just didn't fit here, and it's making a great thing not so great. The sooner it's washed away and we can all move on, the better. On the bright side, at least Dee Brown is back for your hoops team.

[illini4everjp]

Review of 2004 and a look to 2005

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/default.asp?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfoot/news/afn3975642.htm

[illini4everjp]

A Florida fan who had way too much time on his hands, and still obviously doesn't like Zook.

http://plaza.ufl.edu/ftrracer/2005Gators.wmv

[Dan]

A Florida fan who had way too much time on his hands, and still obviously doesn't like Zook.Fan vidoes are so much fun. Well they shouldn't have to worry, they're plenty loaded this year.

[illini4everjp]

Where is everyone watching the first game of the Ron Zook Era!?