Zook never worried about getting fired, and now he wants Illini, fans to get fired up

*SaltLife* · Feb 21, 2010, 09:25 AM

Good Interview with Zook in Suntimes

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/colle...022110.article

Zook says . .
"He never fretted about getting fired: ‘‘No. Because I can walk away from here knowing this program is in pretty good shape. I told coach Guenther — this was a few days after the season — if you’re going to make a change, make it now. Don’t let it get to where it was when we took over. If you’re not going to make a change, then I have to make some changes. So he allowed me to do it, and we did it.’’

"The new coordinators: Paul Petrino and Vic Koenning have broad powers to run the offense and defense, respectively, and Zook is fine with that.

‘‘Absolutely. That’s why I’ve got the fall [training camp] schedule done already. These guys are proven. They’ve been there, done that at this level.
They have to be the demanding guys. They have to make sure things get done, and they will. If we’re judging our talent correctly, it’s up to us to get it done. It comes down to productivity.’’

*SaltLife* · Feb 21, 2010, 09:39 AM

He believes gloomy boosters, fans and media are a big obstacle to success:
‘‘Sometimes I think as a university and as a group of fans, we shoot ourselves in the foot. The negative recruiting, it all stems from us, from our own people. Rather than getting behind the program, they want to start lambasting it. ‘‘The negative recruiting was the worst I’ve ever seen it this year. But a lot of that is our own people. There’s not enough people that believe this program can be where it can be. You’re changing attitudes. You’re changing beliefs. ‘There they go again. They can’t sustain it.’ When you go back and look at what’s happened the last 25 years, it’s going to take a tough son of a [gun] to get through that."

This "perception problem" existed way before Zook arrived and is a tough fight to win. It will take consistent winning year in and year out for years to come to change.

Kasino81 · Feb 21, 2010, 09:40 AM

I could care less about what he has to say/blame about last year. JUST WIN!!!

*SaltLife* · Feb 21, 2010, 09:53 AM

Yeah, seems there are always plenty of excuses but no real answers. Perhaps inabilities of past coaching leadership and staff to get maximum production out of the talent that is here will finally be accomplished by the new staff. We shall see . . .

Groundhogday · Feb 21, 2010, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SaltLife

Good Interview with Zook in Suntimes

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/colle...022110.article

Zook says . .
"He never fretted about getting fired: ‘‘No. Because I can walk away from here knowing this program is in pretty good shape. I told coach Guenther — this was a few days after the season — if you’re going to make a change, make it now. Don’t let it get to where it was when we took over. If you’re not going to make a change, then I have to make some changes. So he allowed me to do it, and we did it.’’

"The new coordinators: Paul Petrino and Vic Koenning have broad powers to run the offense and defense, respectively, and Zook is fine with that.

‘‘Absolutely. That’s why I’ve got the fall [training camp] schedule done already. These guys are proven. They’ve been there, done that at this level.
They have to be the demanding guys. They have to make sure things get done, and they will. If we’re judging our talent correctly, it’s up to us to get it done. It comes down to productivity.’’

The used car salesman tries to spin... not that anyone believes him.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SaltLife

He believes gloomy boosters, fans and media are a big obstacle to success:
‘‘Sometimes I think as a university and as a group of fans, we shoot ourselves in the foot. The negative recruiting, it all stems from us, from our own people. Rather than getting behind the program, they want to start lambasting it. ‘‘The negative recruiting was the worst I’ve ever seen it this year. But a lot of that is our own people. There’s not enough people that believe this program can be where it can be. You’re changing attitudes. You’re changing beliefs. ‘There they go again. They can’t sustain it.’ When you go back and look at what’s happened the last 25 years, it’s going to take a tough son of a [gun] to get through that."

This "perception problem" existed way before Zook arrived and is a tough fight to win. It will take consistent winning year in and year out for years to come to change.

There isn't a perception problem. There is a problem with the product on the field. But Zook is a salesman to the core of his being, so from his perspective the world is nothing but perception, there is no tangible reality.

Once again, Zook needs to stop blaming other people and/or the "history" for his problems. He hired the previous assistants. He recruited the highly regarded players. He just didn't get the job done in terms of coaching and player development.

Shief · Feb 21, 2010, 12:01 PM

I hope that we do do well, Zook better prove that these new coaches worked out or he may be out of a job and Petrino or Koenning may take over as HC or Co-HCs.

Shief

AHSIllini32 · Feb 21, 2010, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Groundhogday

The used car salesman tries to spin... not that anyone believes him.

There isn't a perception problem. There is a problem with the product on the field. But Zook is a salesman to the core of his being, so from his perspective the world is nothing but perception, there is no tangible reality.

Once again, Zook needs to stop blaming other people and/or the "history" for his problems. He hired the previous assistants. He recruited the highly regarded players. He just didn't get the job done in terms of coaching and player development.

They have to be the demanding guys. They have to make sure things get done, and they will. If we’re judging our talent correctly, it’s up to us to get it done. It comes down to productivity.’’

I believe he says right there that it comes down to productivity. And...

There are some things we have to fix. We have this big engine, but our injectors are clogged. The fuel’s not going into the cylinders the way it should. We’re not hitting on all cylinders. That’s our job, to figure out why and get it fixed.’’

and then some things happened that we didn’t control.

Seems to me like he's saying the product on the field hasn't been up to what it should be...

AHSIllini32 · Feb 21, 2010, 12:49 PM

and GHD, just

with all the "used car salesman crap. Every college coach is a salesman

Kasino81 · Feb 21, 2010, 12:57 PM

GHD you would buy a ford tempo from Zook and you know it

*ilphotog* · Feb 21, 2010, 12:59 PM

I wonder if college professors use the same pitch when they are trying to get grants and research dollars to fund their programs even if they haven't gotten favorable results in the past? Just wondering, I have no idea how that works.

mmccallum · Feb 21, 2010, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SaltLife

Good Interview with Zook in Suntimes

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/colle...022110.article

Zook says . .
"He never fretted about getting fired: ‘‘No. Because I can walk away from here knowing this program is in pretty good shape. I told coach Guenther — this was a few days after the season — if you’re going to make a change, make it now. Don’t let it get to where it was when we took over. If you’re not going to make a change, then I have to make some changes. So he allowed me to do it, and we did it.’’

"The new coordinators: Paul Petrino and Vic Koenning have broad powers to run the offense and defense, respectively, and Zook is fine with that.

‘‘Absolutely. That’s why I’ve got the fall [training camp] schedule done already. These guys are proven. They’ve been there, done that at this level.
They have to be the demanding guys. They have to make sure things get done, and they will. If we’re judging our talent correctly, it’s up to us to get it done. It comes down to productivity.’’

I want so badly to believe the hype.

Shief · Feb 21, 2010, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mmccallum

I want so badly to believe the hype.

We all want to believe our team will kick some serious tail this year but this is Illinois, we threaten about every five to ten years then die back. If we could recruit the top talent in the state, get some good players out of the SE/Texas/Ohio, have good coaches that stay here, and a HC that truly wants to be here and win here, we would always have a chance at the Big Ten title. We might float between 1st and 4th every year but we don't always meet all those things.

Shief

*theOriginalBluesBrother* · Feb 21, 2010, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mmccallum

I want so badly to believe the hype.

I want evidence to believe anything he says. (Yeah, now it's all OUR fault.

)

Groundhogday · Feb 21, 2010, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ilphotog

I wonder if college professors use the same pitch when they are trying to get grants and research dollars to fund their programs even if they haven't gotten favorable results in the past? Just wondering, I have no idea how that works.

Well, they can try. But academics are not easily duped. Someone trying to sell complete BS will get mauled by a review panel 99.9% of the time. Your best strategy is to be honest about shortcoming and chart a credible path forward. Even then, you are highly unlikely to funded until you can bootstrap some good results to prime the well.

Groundhogday · Feb 21, 2010, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AHSIllini32

and GHD, just

with all the "used car salesman crap. Every college coach is a salesman

Not true. The good ones are teachers at heart. That doesn't mean they can't sell when they need to as part of their job, it is just that were they not college football coaches they probably wouldn't be in the sales business. Barry Alvarez? Kurt Ferentz? Jim Tressel? I wouldn't call any of them salesmen. But Zook really is a salesman at the core of his being.

Groundhogday · Feb 21, 2010, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AHSIllini32

They have to be the demanding guys. They have to make sure things get done, and they will. If we’re judging our talent correctly, it’s up to us to get it done. It comes down to productivity.’’

Seems to me like he's saying the product on the field hasn't been up to what it should be...

Quote:

I was very optimistic about the season, about the year, about the players. But some things happened that were out of our control, and then some things happened that we didn’t control.

‘‘I remember going into the Missouri game thinking we’d had a great camp and would come out hitting on all cylinders. And then Rejus [Arrelious Benn] gets hurt. Jason Ford gets hurt. We lose our best defensive player [Martez Wilson], our bell cow, in that game. That’s big.

‘‘It was like somebody threw a blanket over us. We never came out of that until the Michigan game. There was so much attention, and the letdown, and the pressure on the guys.’’

The main thrust of the article is Zook making excuses. Northwestern started over 20 different guys on defense, almost none of whom were special athletes and yet that defense still shut us down on our home field AFTER we came out of our "blanket" according to Zook.

AHSIllini32 · Feb 21, 2010, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theOriginalBluesBrother

I want evidence to believe anything he says. (Yeah, now it's all OUR fault.

)

Yeah because he that's what Zook said...

IlliniOllie · Feb 21, 2010, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Groundhogday

Not true. The good ones are teachers at heart. That doesn't mean they can't sell when they need to as part of their job, it is just that were they not college football coaches they probably wouldn't be in the sales business. Barry Alvarez? Kurt Ferentz? Jim Tressel? I wouldn't call any of them salesmen. But Zook really is a salesman at the core of his being.

All college football coaches sell their product.

The difference is that Barry Alvarez, Kirk Ferentz, and Jim Tressel have a successful product with a proven, long-term record to sell. It partially sells itself. Ron Zook's product, on the other hand, has a lousy performance record. Sure, he could sell hope and being the "next great thing" in 2005, but after one successful season in 5, that doesn't work anymore.

And blaming the fans? GTFO. He coached in the SEC, and he thinks that *Illinois* fans are hard on their team?

AHSIllini32 · Feb 21, 2010, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Groundhogday

The main thrust of the article is Zook making excuses. Northwestern started over 20 different guys on defense, almost none of whom were special athletes and yet that defense still shut us down on our home field AFTER we came out of our "blanket" according to Zook.

Is Zook throwing out "excuses"? Yeah, some...but nothing he is saying is not true and he's also not saying those things are the only reason the season went south.

And if you don't think our own fans add to the negative recruiting, I encourage you to browse the Scout board from time to time (not really, I wouldn't encourage anyone to stray over there

).

illinidarrin · Feb 21, 2010, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AHSIllini32

Is Zook throwing out "excuses"? Yeah, some...but nothing he is saying is not true and he's also not saying those things are the only reason the season went south.

And if you don't think our own fans add to the negative recruiting, I encourage you to browse the Scout board from time to time (not really, I wouldn't encourage anyone to stray over there

).

The one that sticks out in my my mind is the CJ situation where our own fans told him to go to Iowa.

mmccallum · Feb 21, 2010, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AHSIllini32

Yeah because he that's what Zook said...

IS there a typo here or am I missing something???

Bobthebarber · Feb 21, 2010, 05:01 PM

"I can walk away from here knowing this program is in pretty good shape."

"There’s something here missing. What is it? There are some things we have to fix.
We have this big engine, but our injectors are clogged. The fuel’s not
going into the cylinders the way it should. We’re not hitting on all cylinders.
That’s our job, to figure out why and get it fixed.’’

So the program is in pretty good shape -- clogged, not hitting on all cylinders.
If that doesn't sound like the epitome of a used car salesman trying to make a fast buck I don't know what is!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, it's a crappy car but it's in pretty good shape.

Wonder how good a shape the program will be in after a few more years of this?

AHSIllini32 · Feb 21, 2010, 05:11 PM

The program is in good shape in terms of talented players and (now) goos, quality coaches who have always had success.

Not hitting on all cylinders last year and struggling in 2008 doesn't mean the program doesn't have things going for it.

and mmc, yes that's a type. Take out the "he" after the because...my bad

Groundhogday · Feb 21, 2010, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AHSIllini32

Is Zook throwing out "excuses"? Yeah, some...but nothing he is saying is not true and he's also not saying those things are the only reason the season went south.

Don't you find it just a little worrying that Zook can't seem to put a finger on exactly why we had a horribly disappointing season (after a frustratingly disappointing season the year before)? The suggestion in the article is that we lost Benn and Martez Wilson which caused Illinois to lose the Missouri game, which caused the team to feel a lot of pressure, perform poorly, etc... We were missing that magic juju which didn't come back until the Michigan game and then somehow vanished again by the Northwestern game three weeks later.

But Martez Wilson played very poorly in the Missouri game when it was still a game, BEFORE any injury. Ian Thomas was by far the better LB, so all this talk about Bell Cows is horse manure. It doesn't begin to explain why an extremely inexperienced Missouri offense walked all over our defense. And WR was our strongest and deepest position. As good as Benn was, we had plenty of terrific skilled athletes at WR and TE to pick up the slack. The problem was that our OL couldn't block anyone, our QB was horribly erratic, and as a team we had no clear idea of what we were trying to do on offense.

When your team leads the league in penalties, when WR can't run the right routes, when OL miss their assignments, when DB don't know their zone assignments, when LB's can't tackle, it all points to one thing: very poor overall team discipline. We had a coaching staff full of recruiters rather than teachers. Zook's comments suggest that he still doesn't get it.

And even when it comes to schemes, Zook is suggesting that we are just changing terminology a bit on defense, but it will be the same scheme. He can't admit that his defensive scheme wasn't working.

At least Guenther gets it, and that is why we have some new coaches on the staff who are disciplinarians, teachers and strategists. For that I am immensely grateful.

cwesince · Feb 21, 2010, 06:08 PM

I think he has actually had it pretty easy here. He had plenty of time to build the program. He lost big in his first few seasons and we still believed in him. He brought in the talent, had one good year and then blew it. We had a talented team in 2008 and didn't even make a bowl and it was a down year in the Big 10. After that season nobody was calling for his head. We gave him the benefit of the doubt for the most part. Then after last season's debocle he should not say one thing about the fans turning on him. It was unreal how bad he underachieved. Why would anyone believe in him? We believed in him and he didn't deliver, simple as that...

Feb 21, 2010, 09:40 AM	#3
Kasino81 THE ORIGITROLL! Location: Edwardsville, IL Posts: 2,875	I could care less about what he has to say/blame about last year. JUST WIN!!! __________________ Trolling this message board since 2007

Feb 21, 2010, 12:57 PM	#9
Kasino81 THE ORIGITROLL! Location: Edwardsville, IL Posts: 2,875	GHD you would buy a ford tempo from Zook and you know it __________________ Trolling this message board since 2007

Feb 21, 2010, 09:25 AM	#1
SaltLife Location: Ormond Beach Posts: 1,405	Good Interview with Zook in Suntimes http://www.suntimes.com/sports/colle...022110.article Zook says . . "He never fretted about getting fired: ‘‘No. Because I can walk away from here knowing this program is in pretty good shape. I told coach Guenther — this was a few days after the season — if you’re going to make a change, make it now. Don’t let it get to where it was when we took over. If you’re not going to make a change, then I have to make some changes. So he allowed me to do it, and we did it.’’ "The new coordinators: Paul Petrino and Vic Koenning have broad powers to run the offense and defense, respectively, and Zook is fine with that. ‘‘Absolutely. That’s why I’ve got the fall [training camp] schedule done already. These guys are proven. They’ve been there, done that at this level. They have to be the demanding guys. They have to make sure things get done, and they will. If we’re judging our talent correctly, it’s up to us to get it done. It comes down to productivity.’’

Feb 21, 2010, 09:39 AM	#2
SaltLife Location: Ormond Beach Posts: 1,405	He believes gloomy boosters, fans and media are a big obstacle to success: ‘‘Sometimes I think as a university and as a group of fans, we shoot ourselves in the foot. The negative recruiting, it all stems from us, from our own people. Rather than getting behind the program, they want to start lambasting it. ‘‘The negative recruiting was the worst I’ve ever seen it this year. But a lot of that is our own people. There’s not enough people that believe this program can be where it can be. You’re changing attitudes. You’re changing beliefs. ‘There they go again. They can’t sustain it.’ When you go back and look at what’s happened the last 25 years, it’s going to take a tough son of a [gun] to get through that." This "perception problem" existed way before Zook arrived and is a tough fight to win. It will take consistent winning year in and year out for years to come to change.

Feb 21, 2010, 09:53 AM	#4
SaltLife Location: Ormond Beach Posts: 1,405	Yeah, seems there are always plenty of excuses but no real answers. Perhaps inabilities of past coaching leadership and staff to get maximum production out of the talent that is here will finally be accomplished by the new staff. We shall see . . .

Feb 21, 2010, 12:01 PM	#6
Shief Location: Urbana, IL/Bloomington, IL Posts: 171	I hope that we do do well, Zook better prove that these new coaches worked out or he may be out of a job and Petrino or Koenning may take over as HC or Co-HCs. Shief

Feb 21, 2010, 12:49 PM	#8
AHSIllini32 Posts: 1,346	and GHD, just with all the "used car salesman crap. Every college coach is a salesman

Feb 21, 2010, 12:59 PM	#10
ilphotog The camera never lies Location: Champaign Posts: 4,581	I wonder if college professors use the same pitch when they are trying to get grants and research dollars to fund their programs even if they haven't gotten favorable results in the past? Just wondering, I have no idea how that works.

Feb 21, 2010, 05:01 PM	#22
Bobthebarber Not a barber Posts: 303	"I can walk away from here knowing this program is in pretty good shape." "There’s something here missing. What is it? There are some things we have to fix. We have this big engine, but our injectors are clogged. The fuel’s not going into the cylinders the way it should. We’re not hitting on all cylinders. That’s our job, to figure out why and get it fixed.’’ So the program is in pretty good shape -- clogged, not hitting on all cylinders. If that doesn't sound like the epitome of a used car salesman trying to make a fast buck I don't know what is!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, it's a crappy car but it's in pretty good shape. Wonder how good a shape the program will be in after a few more years of this?

Feb 21, 2010, 05:11 PM	#23
AHSIllini32 Posts: 1,346	The program is in good shape in terms of talented players and (now) goos, quality coaches who have always had success. Not hitting on all cylinders last year and struggling in 2008 doesn't mean the program doesn't have things going for it. and mmc, yes that's a type. Take out the "he" after the because...my bad

Feb 21, 2010, 06:08 PM	#25
cwesince Posts: 246	I think he has actually had it pretty easy here. He had plenty of time to build the program. He lost big in his first few seasons and we still believed in him. He brought in the talent, had one good year and then blew it. We had a talented team in 2008 and didn't even make a bowl and it was a down year in the Big 10. After that season nobody was calling for his head. We gave him the benefit of the doubt for the most part. Then after last season's debocle he should not say one thing about the fans turning on him. It was unreal how bad he underachieved. Why would anyone believe in him? We believed in him and he didn't deliver, simple as that...