Schutt Sports FBS I-A Coach of the Year - Ron Zook

by: Terry Jacoby
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A program that won eight games the previous four seasons combined – and went 4-19 his first two years – wasn’t about to tear up the blueprint and start from scratch. Zook, 53, believed in what he was doing and that belief paid off as Illinois finished 9-4, including an impressive victory at Ohio State.

Going from two wins in 2006 to nine this past season gave Illinois the best turnaround season among Football Bowl Subdivision teams. “I’m really honored to be named the Schutt Sports Coach of the Year,” Zook said a few days before his Fighting Illini took on USC in the Rose Bowl. “This is really a family affair here and everybody had their part in our success and I was glad to be a part of it.”

Back in the Spotlight

While the Rose Bowl didn’t turn out to be paradise for Illinois, the first trip to Pasadena in 24 years was a fun ride and helped put the Illini on the football map. And leading the way was Zook, who was fired at Florida because he wasn’t Steve Spurrier and records of 8-5, 8-5 and 7-4 don’t sit well in Gainesville.

While Zook headed north and was struggling to rebuild the Illinois football program, he had to watch Urban Meyer win a national championship with a lineup full of players he brought to Florida. His first Illinois team went 2-9 and lost 63-10 to Penn State. The next season, Illinois went 2-10 and lost 33-0 to Rutgers. Zook admits it wasn’t easy, but he knew things would change.

Reggie Mitchell, Illinois’ receivers and running backs coach, talked about Zook’s staff meeting last June that started the process for the 2007 season. “At our coaches and team meetings in June, Coach Zook went down the schedule game-by-game and identified the ones we should compete in and the games we should win. The most important thing he emphasized was not changing our overall strategy and following that path. We knew our goals early-on. There were no gimmicks or thrills. It was all business.”

Zook didn’t change anything in terms of schemes or philosophies. “The thing we’ve done is stayed the course. We knew our juniors and seniors were going to be better players this year and would benefit from the experience of having a few years’ learning and using our offense. Our coaching staff did a great job of continuing to stress the things that we have been teaching since day one. The guys have bought into it. They let us coach them which is a big thing. They let us push them to the point where it paid off.”

Zook said that his team didn’t run more or pass more or do this more or that more. “We just got better at the things we wanted to do,” he said. “Last year we were starting a true freshman at quarterback and he got better this year and matured quite a bit and he will continue to get better. We have players that have run the same system for three years now.”

Change doesn’t come easy for a coach who knows how to win. Zook knows his way is the right way even if not everyone sees it that way. “Our offense, defense and special teams did the same things we did last year; we just did them better this year with players that better understood the system,” he said. “We changed the athleticism here a little bit over the last few years and that certainly has helped us do what we want to do.”

Illinois runs the spread offense that plays with a high tempo. “We do the things that I don’t like to see as a defensive coach,” he said. “We do whatever we can to spread you out and obviously be able to tempo you.”

According to Zook the only thing he needed to change things around at Illinois was time. “Every time you are playing young guys, it’s going to take some time to learn and utilize a system,” he said. “You’re going to be a better player as a junior and a senior than you were as a freshman or sophomore. Anytime you have a coaching change like we did a few years ago, it’s going to take some time and it’s going to take longer when you’re dealing with young players. We had to change the athleticism of our team to do the things we wanted to do and we continue to do that. It’s all a process.”

While Zook wasn’t about to change his high-powered offense, he also stuck to his guns on defense. Illinois features an eight-man front that likes to move around a lot and utilize its speed. “We are not the biggest defense in the country, but we run pretty well and chase the ball well and play with a lot of aggressiveness. I think that’s important,” he said. “We have three guys who have been here since I’ve been here and have been doing the same thing now for three years and have just gotten better at doing it.”

The Quarterback

One of the keys of running the spread offense is having a quarterback good enough to take the keys and drive it down the field. Isiah “Juice” Williams turned out to be that guy for Illinois.

While some coaches might have given up after a few of his outings as a freshman last year, Zook wasn’t about to throw the young man out of the driver’s seat. The 6-2, 223-pound sophomore quarterback proved he had the tools to run Zook’s offense. “There were times last year I was worried about him but I never doubted him,” said Zook, who doesn’t believe coaches should let players coach, but should listen to what their players have to say – and sometimes go with their recommendation.

On Nov. 10 against Ohio State, Williams came over to the sideline and convinced Zook to go for a first down with 6:53 left in the game and Illinois clinging to a 28-21 lead. It was a fourth and one situation in Illinois territory. Zook changed his mind and Williams did the rest, getting the first down and finishing off the Buckeyes.

Williams proved he can beat you with both his arm and his legs. He completed 56.9 percent of his passes this year compared to his accuracy rating of 39.5 percent last year. He also had 13 touchdowns to 10 interceptions in 2007. And Williams ran for another six touchdowns.

“This is the same offense we ran at Florida,” Zook said. “We did run a little more option here than we did there because your offense has to be flexible enough to do the things that your players do the best.

“When we were at Florida we had Chris Leak at quarterback and he was a little bit more of a drop-back passer. Juice is more of an option-type guy so we did more of the type of things that helped us utilize his talents.”

Staying the Course

Zook and his coaching staff changed the offense when they arrived three years ago. That was the easy part. Changing the mindset took some time and plenty of work. “The biggest concern we had when we showed up was attitude,” Zook said. “And by that I mean winning is a habit and, unfortunately, so is losing. It takes some time and it’s hard to change the attitude.

“The two ways to do it we felt were to bring in our new attitude and continue to pound on the ones that were here. Our upper class guys did a great job of buying into what we were trying to get done and did a great job of helping us recruit good, young talent. We molded together as a team. It says a lot for the older guys and a lot for the young guys who allowed the older guys to lead them.”

Coming off a 2-10 season, Zook knew he had some work to do in order for the players to buy into the system.

“This is a great place to be,” Zook said. “This is a great academic institution and we play in the Big Ten Conference so we have a lot going for us. Illinois is a place where people could just feel that we were making progress and making strides. There was an opportunity to come here and be a part of something special.

“There also was an opportunity for some young players to come here and play early and many of them did a great job with that.” While Illinois might have been used to losing on the football field, it was a new experience for Zook.

“My faith played a big part and we just hung in there,” Zook said. “I told my wife after that first year that if we could just weather the storm and stay strong that we would be alright. We just needed to get guys in here and change the athleticism of the program and we were able to do that.”

The process of changing things took some time, but Zook knew that this year was going to be different.

“We knew going into this season that we were going to be a better team,” he said. “We didn’t know what that meant, but we knew we were better. We also feel we are going to be better next year. Last year we were close in a lot of games, but we just couldn’t get over the hump. This year we had to get over the hump and do the things we were capable of. We knew we were going to be better, but we didn’t know by how many games. We progressed last year even though our record was the same. You’re judged on wins and losses but we knew as a football team and as a program we were making progress last year.”

Bringing in the right players to run his system had to take a couple of years. Zook has always been known as a great recruiter, even at Florida. “The program there was not where it needed to be in terms of recruiting,’’ Zook said. ‘‘You don’t go to Florida and start a true freshman at quarterback. We started Chris Leak. He went on to be the quarterback that won the national championship.”

Before, Illinois used to have to sell its program on trust. Recruits had to trust that the coaches could turn things around. Now, Illinois coaches can bring the goods with them. Trust has been rewarded and now the real rewards should start flowing in. Zook said he never doubted himself – and that belief in what you’re doing is as important as the schemes, the plays and even the players.

“You have to constantly evaluate what you’re doing and look for ways to improve. If you know you’re on the right track and believe in what you’re doing you have to stay with it,” Zook said. “The only way your coaches and players are going to believe in it is if you believe in it. You can’t doubt it. Of course there will be times to tweak things and evaluate but you have to stay the course. And sometimes it’s hard. But most of the time good things will happen.

“There’s no question winning helps,” Zook said. “When people see a lot of the positive things in the national media and in the national spotlight, they have a sense of the direction of the program.”

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