Coach Zook Press Conference Transcription
Wednesday, January 9, 2002 | Football
FLORIDA ATHLETIC DIRECTOR JEREMY FOLEY
ANNOUNCING RON ZOOK AS NEW HEAD FOOTBALL COACH
JANUARY 9, 2002
OPENING STATEMENT CONCERNING NEW FLORIDA HEAD COACH RON ZOOK
"I want to tell you number one and tell everybody how excited I am about this hire. I feel about this hire exactly the way I felt when I hired Billy Donovan. I see similar qualities in terms of energy, passion, commitment, and love for this program. I have known Ron as a recruiter when he was back here in the early 90's, and his talents there speak for themselves. All those things were very important for us as we moved forward through this decision. I am firmly convinced with his ability. I believe in him very very strongly, and I firmly believe he will build on the terrific program that Coach Spurrier has left behind. I will bring Ron Zook up here to speak to you all, and when we are done I am going to come back and go through the search with you and the process because I know you might have some questions about it. But right now it is my pleasure to introduce you to the newest football coach at the university of Florida: Ron Zook.
ON THE SITUATION OF FINDING A REPLACEMENT FOR SPURRIER...
"There has been a plan in place for a little while that I implemented as soon as Steve told me his decision. That plan was to talk to three people. I though that was important because I knew them personally. They had a relationship with the University of Florida and they were ball coaches. They had different track records of success but those were the three we wanted to talk to. The honest truth is that there was never an offer made to Bobby Stoops, because he could never get to that point. We talked a little bit and he called me back to told about his feelings toward Oklahoma and the commitment they made toward him. We never got to the point of offers. Same thing with Mike Shanahan. I have known Mike since 1980, we have been long time friends. Again there was no offer for him to decline because we never got to that point. For Mike, the decision was on a totally different level. He had to decide if we wanted to coach college football and that intrigued him. Mike couldn't get beyond that and we flew to New Orleans the next day. That was all part of the plan. They were both quality people who made quality decisions. I though it was very important to get it done by this weekend. Ron Zook is ready to hit the ground running and hit recruiting hard. The only offer that was ever put on the table was to Ron. We are going to have a lot of fun with Ron and his family as we did with coach Spurrier because they are special people too."
WHY WAS ZOOK ON YOU SHORT LIST...
You have got to go with your instincts. I have known Ron Zook for a long time and I have saw his passion from the beginning. I saw his passion, his ability to recruit, how his players played for him and I have since followed his career. I wish coach Spurrier could have coached here forever and I felt the same way about coach Zook. I have had tremendous respect for all three of these men and he has been on that short list. This is a guy who has coached football, coached with some of the best coaches in the game and he has proved himself everywhere he has been. You don't go chasing people who might not be a fit for this university and you don't go chasing after people you just can't get. You just get a feel for a person and you put him on the list.
DID YOU CONSIDER WAITING UNTIL THE NFL SEASON HAD CONCLUDED...
This obviously is an important hire. There are a lot of issues around a football program at this level. I thought it was very important to get it done this week. You can't wait for the NFL season to end, because you've got players looking to make their draft decisions Friday and we've got recruits coming in. The worst thing for us would have been to sit on this for a couple of weeks chasing after a coach that you might get and might not get. We're hitting the ground running here we're not going to miss a beat. We're working for a guy that I am very comfortable with. I can't be any more emphatic about the point that I am very excited about where we're headed here. Bottom line, I trust this guy, I've seen what he has done and I see how I think the players are going to react to him.
On Criticisms:
Criticism I can accept. The real criticism is whether we win or lose games or not. OK, again, today that's the nature of the sport. As Ron said that's what makes this place so special is that so many people care. Trust me, after today I know how many more people care. That's OK. I didn't settle for anybody. I can tell you right now. When I was flying in with Greg (McGarity) yesterday and I was talking with Randy Mueller, the GM of the Saints yesterday or this weekend and he (Mueller) said, 'Jeremy, let me tell you something. There are a lot of great things about Ron Zook. Let me tell you. He will coach in the NFL.' And Randy Mueller has been in the NFL for 20 years. So, now I'm going to New Orleans figuring 'well there's a guy who always said he wanted to coach at the University of Florida' and I also know that he talked about Coach Spurrier having all these NFL opportunities. Now I am flying into New Orleans and Zooker's got one. Ok. Now I am gonna have to settle for somebody. Because I had absolutely no idea where I would have gone from there. And now I think that would have been a valid criticism. But you have got to have a plan. You can't just go after one guy and have nobody. That's the nature of the beast. I wish that this search would have been conducted in secret. I can settle for a guy that's on my list. The way I look upon it, he won. He'll tell you, this might be the best football job in America. And now, he's the head coach. That comes with the territory. I guess I might have flown to New Orleans first. But, the nature of the business is I was talking to the head coaches first. Another criticism you here is, 'you didn't get a head coach.' You look around and see how many quality head coaches started out as assistants. Obviously the guy on the list Bobby Stoops was an assistant here and won a national championship so obviously he passed that test in fine fashion, and I am confident that Ron will be too.
On whether he thought that the search would be this public:
No. In fact, because I have done coaching searches. The basketball search with Billy Donovan. Some baseball searches. Obviously, its best if you do it behind the scenes. I was flying back with Greg last night and I was thinking there is no way. The bottom line is there is way too much interest in this position. I promise you if I had anything to do over again. Mike Shanahan and I would have met in the mountains somewhere. The Denver situation was phenomenal. You know what that shows. A lot of people are paying attention to our football program. It was an exciting process. It still is exciting and I think it will be more exciting in the future.
The qualifying characteristics that Ron Zook has:
I have seen and I have been told how his players react to him. And people told me in 20 years, they have never seen a guy who gets guys to play so hard and so well and in the same time love him also. You get a sense for those type of things. You see already that he has a staff put together. .I knew that would happen. You see that in the NFL. A guy like Jim Haslett gets a head coaching job and takes a guy that's never been a coordinator in the league gives him that responsibility. Bill Cowher said he would give him a responsibility and not have to worry about it that night.
How important are offenses:
Ron is prepared. One thing that he said was, as a defensive coordinator, 'Do think I don't know what offenses do to give defenses troubles? When I'm going up against the St. Louis Rams and I see what they do. I know what offense do to give defenses trouble.' That's why he will have input. You talk about hiring the Marshall offensive coordinator. Just check the stats.
FLORIDA HEAD COACH RON ZOOK
OPENING STATEMENT
"Dr. Young, Jeremy, thank you. Obviously this is a very exciting time for me. It's a time that dreams really do come true. Coach Spurrier talked about how God is really smiling on his life. Obviously, the same thing is very much true for me. First of all, I am not Coach Spurrier. I am not going to be Coach Spurrier. I am not going to coach like coach Spurrier. I have to be Ron Zook, and that is the way I want to be. I think that at the University of Florida, regardless of who the head football coach is, this program was going to go on, and I am excited to have the opportunity to go on with it. I think you have not only a university that can compete with anybody academically but obviously athletically as well. You have an athletic director and you have a program that is in place. Obviously, coming in behind Coach Spurrier is not the best thing you'd like to do. All he has done is set the standard; set the bar. It's our job to try to maintain that bar, and if possible, throw up the bar. And I think this: I think that if there is one person that would want to see the University of Florida continue on and even take the next step it would be Coach Spurrier. He is truly a Gator. It's exciting to see [Spurrier's wife] Jerri here. As everyone knows, she is truly a Gator. There is so many people to thank to get to this point. Obviously, my wife Denise who is here. She has moved around numerous times for me to be in this position to have the opportunity to be a head football coach. My daughters they've moved. My oldest daughter went to three different high schools, so they have sacrificed as well. They have given me the opportunity to chase the dream that I have finally reached. But I think this: You talk about reaching a dream, but it is only the beginning. It's sort of like when you talk about when you graduate and commencement. You are commencing to get started. I think obviously this is the beginning of my head coaching experience. I know there is a lot of people that question 'here he is, a first year head football coach at the University of Florida'. [The job] is probably something that I consider the number one football job, whether it be college, professional, any level. It is a very strong and exciting football program. I think the people that I've worked for, the people that I have been fortunate enough to work with and learn from, have allowed me to take a little bit of their qualities and use it to my personality. Like I said before, I am not Steve Spurrier. I am not any one of the coaches that I've worked for. But I have been able to take the good things that they have, and the coaches that I've worked and the programs I've been in have been winning programs. Hopefully we are just going to keep the thing right on going as it is. As I said before, there are so many people to thank to get here. The coaches that have given me the opportunity to be here, and obviously Coach Spurrier for giving me the opportunity to coach here as an assistant in 1991. I can remember when he called me while I was at Ohio State University. When never did discuss money, and my wife asked me how much was he going to pay? I said 'Denise it doesn't matter. We want to go to Florida', and I feel the same way today as I did then. It's a program that has everything to offer. In terms of where we are going offensively, I know that is the number one question because I have coached defense and because I have coached the special teams. Let me just say this: Those of you that saw us when I was the defensive coordinator here, we were not a sit back defense. We were an attacking style defense. We were going to come at you. When I coached the special teams, we were the same way. I can assure you this: Our offense is going to be the same way. We are going to be an attacking offense. We are going to be an offense that makes things happen. We are going to throw the football around the ballpark. As Coach Spurrier always says, we are going to score a lot of points. Obviously, that is my style and personality. The fact that I have not coached an offense at the college level is not going to mean that we are not going to be an exciting offense, because we will be. We already have a guy in place who I am excited about who is probably going to end up being our offensive coordinator. They were third in the NCAA in offense… … He is a guy who has coached quarterbacks, and he has been in this league a while. Once again, it is a situation where we can continue the offense right on with what's going on here. There is not going to be a lot of change, other than there will be some different terminology and so forth that the players are going to have to learn. But we are going to be a multiple scheme, multiple offense throwing the ball and running the football. I think it is important that you are able to run the football, particularly where you can get into a situation where you can take some pressure off the quarterback in weather conditions and things of that nature. It's going to continue right on where it was going, and obviously our goal is to not only maintain the level that Coach Spurrier has taken this program. But to take it to another level."
ON WHAT HE THOUGHT WHEN HIS NAME WAS MENTIONED FOR FLORIDA'S COACHING VACANCY…
"I had a game to get ready for, so I was not going to really concern myself with that. I knew that if Jeremy was going to give me an opportunity to be the head football coach at the University of Florida, it made no difference to me who he talked to or how many people he had to go through to get to me. That makes no difference. All I wanted was an opportunity to be the head football coach at the University of Florida. As I said, in my opinion it is the best job in football at any level- college, professional, at any level. It is a dream come true. So I wasn't concerned about who he was talking with or talking to. I was just hoping that I would get the opportunity to talk to him and obviously sell myself on what I thought I could do at the University of Florida."
ON WHAT HE WOULD LIKE GATOR FANS TO KNOW…
"I read coach Spurrier's release, and I think he kind of said it the way it should be said. You need to have people doubting you. That excites me. I go back to 1993 when Coach Spurrier made a decision that at the time I didn't agree with. But you know what? It may have been the best thing that has ever happened to me. Obviously I worked myself to get back to the spot that I was. To me, no matter who would be standing here there is going people that question that, and I think that is the nature of the business. I think that is one of the greatest things about the University of Florida. There could be some place where people don't care. People care here, and it is important. There are a lot of Florida Gators out there that are waiting to see. I am excited too. As I told Jeremy, we need to put a little extra steal in this building because the staff that is coming in here is going to hit the ground running, and we are going to make some waves. We have 21 people coming in this weekend. There is no reason why we should slip at all. We are going to keep right on going. I think I said that there are always going to be 'Nay Sayers'. 'He could've hired Bill Walsh' and the first time Bill Walsh didn't score in the first quarter or didn't make a first first down, he was going to be compared to Steve Spurrier. I understand that and that is the way it's going to be. That's the challenge, and that is the way it is. Challenges are what make people work harder. You are not going to become complacent. Man let's go. Let's get it on."
ON HOW HE FIRST HEARD COACH SPURRIER RESIGNED…
"We were actually practicing and our sports information director came out and said 'did you hear Coach Spurrier resigned?' I thought he was kidding. I didn't need that right now. The San Francisco 49ers are the number three offense in the National Football League, and I wasn't concerned about that. It spread like wildfire and I'm sure it did around the state of Florida. Once it became apparent that it really had happened, then I thought I hope I get an opportunity. Jeremy and I have talked in the past, and I hoped to get an opportunity to talk with him. But the only thing I was concerned about was to get an opportunity to talk to him. I knew Jeremy had to do his thing and conduct the search the way he wanted to conduct it. I just was hopefully that I was going to get an opportunity to at least talk to him."
ON WHAT NEW ORLEANS SAINTS COACH JIM HASLETT SAID TO HIM…
"Jim was good. He obviously congratulated me. Jim took a chance on me in making me a defensive coordinator in the National Football League. To me, that is one of the most exciting things about coming here. Jeremy has taken a chance on Ron Zook at the University of Florida. To me, people are going to play their best, people are going to do their best, people are going to do what they have to do when they have to prove something. That is where the image is going to come from at the University of Florida. If there was a long year, we are going to get this thing going- not that there was. We are going to work with this thing, so there is no reason why we can't just keep right on going. I think the fact that coaching at the major college level and coaching at the professional level and the pressure that you are under hardens you and gets you ready for the things that are going to happen."
ON WHY HE STAYED AT FLORIDA WHEN HE WAS DEMOTED DURING HIS TIME AS ASSISTANT COACH AT FLORIDA…
"Jeremy Foley had a lot to do with me staying here. As Jeremy said, you just keep working and you keep working and keep working and good things are going to happen to good people. A lot of times you can get off track and go the other way, but I chose to handle the hand that I was dealt I was going to do the best that I possibly could. I felt like our special teams were awful good, and obviously I proved to Coach Spurrier that I deserved another chance to be in that capacity."
ON WHAT THE HARD TIMES HE WENT THROUGH AT FLORIDA DID FOR HIM…
"I think that anytime a person gets backed up a little bit, you judge how they respond to that. I'm in a situation now where I have to prove myself. The University of Florida has already proven itself. Coach Spurrier has taken the program and the university to a level that is second to none. I think there was a poll on the internet, and they talked about the University of Florida was the number one football job in America. I think the list included the National Football League, not only college. You are judged by your past achievements and what you have done. I am in a situation where I have proven myself that I can take something and move it forward. I think that is probably the biggest thing that has helped me in that experience."
ON WHEN HE PLANS TO COMPLETE HIS STAFF…
"We are working through that right now. Obviously Coach Spurrier had a great staff and you don't win as many games as he's won and not have a great staff. You got to have great players, but you have to have a great staff as well. There is a strong possibility [in retaining some current Florida assistants] in that, and we are looking through that right now. We have to get as many coaches in place as we possibly can. The one thing about is that you can only put seven guys on the road. I promise you that I am going to be on the road. Monday when you are allowed back out I am going to be one of those seven. So we need six guys that are ready to go. I'm not concerned that we won't have six guys on the road by Monday. Matter of fact, we'll have six guys in here probably Friday ready to recruit."
ON HIS THOUGHTS OF RECRUITING…
" I enjoy recruiting. When you have something like the University of Florida to sell, it is not hard to recruit. You go out and you have a product that you are selling. The University of Florida is easy to sell. You have an academic institution that is second to one. You have an athletic program, not only football, that is second to none. The one thing that my two girls and my wife really miss is not just football but it's football, basketball, tennis. Everybody is a family, and I think that starts at the top. I think that it is not only the athletic department; the athletic department is part of the university. It's a big family, more so than any place I've been. I think when you go out through the state with all the Gators out there… I did not graduate from the University of Florida. I do not have any hours from the University of Florida. But I have spent more time at the University of Florida than I did at my alma mater. So I really feel like maybe I can get one of those honorary degrees or something. Hopefully, I can stay here long enough to get one. This is a place that is special. There is no question about it."
ON WHAT HE PLANS TO TELL FLORIDA'S PLAYERS…
"I think that what Rex needs to hear, and if I was Rex I'd be exactly like him. Everyone is saying 'here is a defensive coach coming in and he's probably going to run the football and they are not going to throw the ball around'. He doesn't want to hear that. But Rex Grossman wants to hear that he has the same opportunity that he had last year to win the Heisman Trophy. If I'm not mistaken, he was second in the Heisman Trophy balloting, right? I promise you he will have the same opportunity. He has to go out and do it, and obviously he knows that. He is a competitor and he is going to get it done. He wants to make sure he knows that he is going to have the same opportunity to go out and win the Heisman Trophy that he had this past year. He will have that same opportunity, and same with the receivers, running backs, the whole thing. There is not going to be a lot of change. Are we going to run the football? Yes. Are we going to throw the football? Absolutely. But it's going to be a team that plays with a lot of energy and a team that has fun. When I first got to the New Orleans Saints, I said 'the one thing that we want to do is that when those people leave the dome, I want them saying 'man, them guys are having fun. They are flying around having fun.'' This is a fun sport. There is nothing like game day in The Swamp. I miss it, my children miss it, my wife missed it, and I am really looking forward to it. Our players are going to have fun, and our offense is going to be explosive. Our offense is going to make some things happen. As I said in the beginning, I am not Steve Spurrier. I am not going to try to be Steve Spurrier. I don't know that anyone can be Steve Spurrier, and that is a compliment to coach Spurrier because he is a heck of a ball coach. I don't think you are going to get anyone disagreeing with that. We are going to be an exciting football team and an exciting offense."
ON WHAT HE LEARNED FROM COACH SPURRIER AND THE LAST FEW WEEKS AS A SAINTS COACH…
"First of all, Coach Spurrier is a winner. Coach Spurrier is a competitor. Coach Spurrier is going to find a way to get it done. You want me to show you a guy who will get a team ready to play a big game? That's Coach Spurrier. I've said that in a lot of different situations. He's going to get them ready to play. One of the things that I learned from these past four weeks… It was an unbelievable learning experience. In the National Football League maybe more so than in college football, there is about that much difference between an 11-5 team and 5-11 team. There is very little difference. And the emotional part of it, the psyche part of it, the injury part of it, all those things. Once something begins to come unraveled, why it begin to come unraveled? A lot of times you'll see teams that get so close to getting there they are willing to take a little chance here or maybe give a little here. Then once things unravel, it kind of turns into what one of our coaches with the Saints call a "dyspiral". I think as a football coach you always learn more… I know Bear Bryant used to talk about you always learn more in the face of adversity. A lot of times when things are going well, you don't
HOW IMPORTANT WILL THIS FIRST SEASON BE...
"I think that every season at the University of Florida is going to be important, whether it's my first one or my last one. That is the level that coach Spurrier set and that's what makes this such a great job. I'm not worried about recruiting against anyone, when at the University of Florida you can recruit against anyone. Obviously an athlete comes to a school because he wants to play football, but there is more to it than that. There is a lot beyond those 11 or 12 Saturdays where they play football, a bunch of other things are going on. There's a lot of things to sell at the University of Florida and no matter is coaching,, you can sell the University of Florida."
WHAT SIMILARITIES ARE THERE BETWEEN COACH SPURRIER AND YOURSELF...
"I think coach Spurrier is unique and coaches his way. Hopefully in 12 years people will say that Ron Zook was unique and coaches his way. I'm not Steve Spurrier I'm Ron Zook, that's they way it will work and that's the way we will be successful."
WHAT MADE YOU ACCEPT THE JOB..
"I would love to stay at the University of Florida. When I decided that I wanted to become a football head coach I knew that the University of Florida was where I wanted to come. This is where I want to be and where I want to stay as long as we are able to keep this program going the way it is right now."
DEFINE YOUR STYLE OF COACHING...
"It's impossible for one coach to coach all phases of the game. I will be very involved in each of those phases, because that is my nature, that's the way that I am. When any big decision is made, it's going to have to go through me."
WHAT MADE YOU LEAVE FLORIDA BACK IN '95...
"I was very excited to be back as a defensive coordinator again I was right back where I wanted to be. I was at the university I wanted to be at I was in the position I wanted to be at and we had a very good football team. I was got a call from Pittsburgh asking if I wanted to coach the special teams for the Steelers. My first reaction was no, I didn't want to go to Pittsburgh. I went home and my wife said I should check it out and I told her that I didn't want to go. It's snow it's cold it's all those things, but she insisted that I look at it. I went up there and Pittsburgh is a great city, but it was grey, just cold enough not to snow, just not a pretty day. I then went and had a great talk with the head coach there but in my mind there is now way I was going to go to Pittsburgh. When the coach called me back for my answer I told him that I just wasn't ready and to look for somebody else. He kept me on the phone for a half-hour and when I hung up I knew I had to go. It was a gut feeling that I had that this was the move I had to make for my career for my future, but it was hard. It was hard for me, for my family and I questioned myself even after I go there, but sometimes to move forward you have to get out of that comfort zone."
WHAT ROLE WILL YOUR ASSISTANTS PLAY...
"I think it's hard for an assistant coach to coach with a head coach looking over his shoulder. You have to coach how you are, and I have been fortunate to be around guys that were like that and let you coach. I have always felt that one thing that a head coach must always do is to be involved with the offense. You are going to control the game a whole lot quicker on the offensive side of the ball then on any other side. I think it's important that you let them coach, but also be involved in all the phases as well."
WHERE DO YOU GO FROM HERE...
"There has been no greater Gator fan than myself. It's and exciting place to be and I am looking forward to being here. I think it's going to be one of those things that everybody is going to be excited about. There is no reason why some coaches succeed and some don't. We have to get things going. We have a team in place, a university in place and we just have to push forward."
DO YOU PLAN TO BE TOUGH ON YOU DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR AS SPURRIER WAS RUMORED TO BE...
Coach Spurrier wasn't tough on his defensive coordinators. Spurrier is a winner, a competitor. He did win. Sometimes he was taken as being tough on his coaches he was probably pretty tough on his quaterbacks at times too. I want to be a winner and a competitor as well and if it takes that then maybe I will have to be a littler tough too.
