October 25, 2004
Ron Zook fired, will finish season
ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit is now reporting that Florida Gators Head Coach Ron Zook and his staff have been fired effective at the end of the season by Athletic Director Jeremy Foley.
Foley will apparently announce the move this afternoon.
Herbstreit confirmed this news on ESPNRadio during Colin Cowherd's morning show.
FireRonZook.com, a website dedicated to, well, firing Ron Zook, had an overloaded server as of 10 a.m. Eastern time.
WESH Channel 2 in Florida is saying that Foley will meet with members of the team this afternoon, then make the announcement at a press conference.
We'll update this story thru the day as more news comes out.
UPDATE: ESPN is now reporting that the early search attention will focus on Utah Coach Urban Meyer. The link between Florida's current President, who came to the school from Utah, was mentioned.
Also, in little over an hour since the news was mentioned, there are already 200+ stories on the Google News wire about the news, though many are just reprinting essentially what we have here.
MORE: CBS Sportsline is stating that there will be a 3:30 p.m. Eastern Press conference.
STILL MORE: Foley has told the Gainesville Sun that he and school President Bernie Machen met on Sunday to make the decision, and they informed Zook this morning.
MORE SPECULATION: ESPN is running a questionnaire as to what fans think the future of Florida Football should be. Ivan Maisel takes an early stab at who the next Gator coach could, or should be.
UPDATE: The Gainesville Sun(per the AP, as we still can't access the Sun's swamped site) reports that the school is liable for Zook's remaining four year contract at $450,000 per year.
REACT: Sylvester Croom was gracious about the fall of his former fellow SEC coach.
"Any time a fellow coach is fired, that's disappointing," Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom said Monday. "Ron's a good football coach who has had an excellent career. I hate that he and his coaching staff and their families have to go through that. We know this is part of the business, but it's not a part of the business that any of us enjoy."
CAROUSEL: The Gainesville Sun offers up a baker's dozen of potential candidates. The list? Bob Stoops, Mike Leach, Norm Chow, Jeff Tedford, John Gruden, Dan Hawkins, Bobby Petrino, Kirk Ferentz, Rick Neuheisel, Urban Meyer, Pat Hill and of course, Steve Spurrier
STILL MORE: CNNSI's Stewart Mandel says the Gators can correct the Zook error and offers a plan of attack.
MORE COMMENTS: Some of AD Jeremy Foley's comments
It is clear to us that in evaluating our football program that something is not working. I accept full responsibility for where we are today and I feel this change is necessary for us to reach our goals. I want to thank Coach Zook for his extraordinary effort. No one outworked him, no one outrecruited him.
A Fanblogs Look Back at the Zook Era at Florida
(10/23/04)Upset loss at MSU is the final straw.
(10/13/04)The incident that may have started Zook's final descent, the Frat house fracas.
(09/07/04)Zook puts off suspension of two key players.
(12/27/03)Zook on firmer ground than his predecessor?
(09/24/03)Zook pins hopes on Freshman QB, Chris Leak.
THOUGHTS ON THE FIRING OF RON ZOOK? Comment Here.
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Michael Hickerson says:
posted on October 25, 2004 10:20 AM — linkIf this proves to be true, does this mean that the Gators will throw in the towel for the season?
In one article I read, several UF players stated they felt like they had to play their hearts out to help their coach. If he's a lame duck, is that motivation now gone?
And the timing of this, if it is true, must make UGA happy. If the Gators are throwing in the towel on the season, it might be the crack in the door they need to beat the Gators Saturday afternoon.
From SEC College Football - Fanblogs.com
pinged on Oct 25, 2004 10:38 AMOk, so just for fun, let's make two assumptions and play a little game: 1) Ron Zook is freakin' toast, whether by firing or assassination by crazed fan. and 2) Stever Spurrier isn't the replacement.Who are likely candidates to coach the Gators next yea...
From SEC College Football - Fanblogs.com
pinged on Oct 25, 2004 3:55 PMWhile analysts and fans have to tried to dimiss the possiblity of Steve Spurrier returning to Gainesville for a repeat engagement as Florida Gators' head coach, the Ol' Ball Coach seemed open to that possibility today. (See also: ESPN: Zook, staff fire...
From SEC College Football - Fanblogs.com
pinged on Oct 27, 2004 7:45 AMESPN is reporting something that's been brewing on the message boards for two days: Florida officials have called Steve Spurrier to see if he wants to return as Head Coach. ESPN's Jim Donnan added that the school has given Spurrier 24 hours to fish or...
From SEC College Football - Fanblogs.com
pinged on Nov 21, 2004 3:21 PMFoxSports.com is going forward with the rumor that Utah coach Urban Meyer has agreed to become the next coach of the Florida Gators. For it's part, Florida has said that they haven't even started talking to coaches. I'm wondering if Florida has the sto...
