What the ZOOK!
Obviously, Zook is an amazing recruiter (as we've all been told); and given his 9-4, non-Big-10-Championship, Rose Bowl season 3 years ago, he's just as good of a coach.
Then why has he been all but shut-out of his own State's Top 60 (per Scout):
http://recruiting.scout.com/3/2010_Illinois.html
January 27th, 2010 at 11:41 AM ^
Because anyone from Illinois knows he's probably out after next season.
January 27th, 2010 at 11:42 AM ^
Well Cooper is, I believe, considered an Illinois lean and he has Whitmer and another kid at #15. How many kids did Michigan take from their state outside of the Top 15 or so. If i'm not mistaken we only have 4 - Gardner, White, Miller, and Jackson right? So I'm not quite sure I see your point.
January 27th, 2010 at 12:14 PM ^
Michigan HS football is not on par with Illinois HS football.
January 27th, 2010 at 11:49 AM ^
People think he's as good a game coach as a recruiter? Since when?
January 27th, 2010 at 12:22 PM ^
According to the Chicago media... since he went to the Rose Bowl (never mind it was as a 9-3 runner-up that got embarrassed by USC).
Point is... he's not a good coach, nor a good recruiter.
Illinois should be cleaning up in their own back-yard... N'western does not "split" recruits in-state as UM/MSU do on an annual basis. OSU owns Ohio; MInn, Iowa, and Wisco own their states (given with much less of a talent pool).
If Zook was, in fact, a good recruiter... he would have Illinois locked up. He does not.
January 27th, 2010 at 12:36 PM ^
In 2006 Illinois had gone 1-11, 3-8 and 2-10 over the past 3 years. Zook pulled in a top 30 class that year. Way to ignore that. In 2007 they went to the Rose Bowl and pulled in a top 20 class. Zook has at least held Illinois to their recent historical standard.
January 27th, 2010 at 12:43 PM ^
We don't own the state of Michigan nor "clean up" in it so again what is the point of all this? So that means we must really suck since we got PASTED by them two years in a row right?
January 27th, 2010 at 11:51 AM ^
Zook has five commits in the top 40 from Illinois. If MfP is right about Cooper, that's six.
How does that count as "all but shut out?"
January 27th, 2010 at 11:55 AM ^
What seriously? He has the number 6, 15, 19 recruits on this list. He also leads for number 4. Did I mention Illinois is bad and that might be a reason top recruits might not want to come there?
January 27th, 2010 at 11:54 AM ^
His average year at Florida was around 7-5; he did that his last year with talent that enabled Urban Meyer to win a National Championship. He did change to the spread one year before half of the Big Ten did, and rode that unfamiliarity and a hot QB, Juice Williams, to a decent year. Other than that, his only "claim to fame" is beating Michigan a couple of times, also with Juice Williams. Since the Michigan game appears to be Illinois' Super Bowl, that probably helps his job status quite a bit.
Zook's reputation as a great recruiter and a mediocre coach is no accident. Now that more teams are familiar with the spread, the game is getting back to development and playcalling being the most important factors; neither seems to be his forte. To support the statement about development, I would present the non-improvement of Juice Williams from his sophomore to his senior years.
As for not doing well instate, Zook prefers to recruit the south. Out of fifteen firm verbals, eight are from south of the Mason-Dixon line. It would be interesting to know if there is some kind of instate or south clique on the team, like the Dade County clique at Miami.
Anyway, Zook is a perfect coach for a school like Illinois. He will occasionally have a good year, but will more often be somewhere in the middle of the pack. That is pretty much where they belong. Zook is too "old school" to fully grasp today's game. That is great for recruiting because parents like him, and great for the kids as far as growing into young men, but not the best for making the NFL or joining the elite teams in the BCS.
January 27th, 2010 at 12:36 PM ^
Considering his entire staff has also been revamped this also takes a toll on recruiting. I think many will be suprised if Zook lasts beyond this year and I was suprised that Illinois did not pull the trigger. Roundtree being run down at the 1 cost Michigan a Bowl and cost Illini Alum another 365 days of ZOOKERBALL!
January 27th, 2010 at 1:26 PM ^
He has a reputation for being a great recruiter, but so far this year, their class is terrible. It's not even ranked in the rivals top 75!
January 27th, 2010 at 4:47 PM ^
I don't know what the deal is this year, but Zook can recruit. Nearly all of Florida's 2006 national-title team was recruited by him.