November 15th, 2011 at 4:06 PM ^
Zook handled that about as calmly as you could, good for him.
Shannon sounded scared as hell to even ask the question. She should've just said: "From a football perspective...WHY AREN'T YOU FIRED YET?!? ....from a football perspective, I mean"
November 15th, 2011 at 4:47 PM ^
B1G is having a Coaches cleanup party. Let's see who will be the last Coach standing.
November 15th, 2011 at 6:18 PM ^
I think the reporter was really dumb to ask that question. He just stated very clearly what the press conference was about and then the first question was completely silly.
November 16th, 2011 at 9:51 AM ^
Reporters don't typically let the subjects dictate what's allowed in an interview/press conference. When you're a coach on the hot seat, you more or less have to deal with these kind of questions, and Zook can try to change that, but the reporter's right to ask the question. She at least tried to frame it as a football question rather than the straight-out job security question.
November 15th, 2011 at 4:06 PM ^
before they kick him out.
November 15th, 2011 at 4:07 PM ^
#LOLZOOK
November 15th, 2011 at 4:07 PM ^
He told them he would walk out if they asked about his job security.
They asked, he walked.
I think Zook's coaching career is near an end.
November 15th, 2011 at 4:42 PM ^
Is this the entire back story?
EDIT: Never mind, I'm dumb and didn't notice that the second sentence was the link.
November 15th, 2011 at 4:54 PM ^
...Zook was honest. He said he would leave, and he did. He neither punted nor used a timeout to do it either.
November 15th, 2011 at 4:09 PM ^
I don't know how you can make fun of him about this when it's very similar to what happened to RichRod here. I almost feel bad for him. If they do go separate ways, who will Illinois even get to replace him?
November 15th, 2011 at 4:11 PM ^
John Gruden... of course.
November 15th, 2011 at 4:13 PM ^
You also forgot to mention Tony Dungy
November 15th, 2011 at 4:19 PM ^
I hear Urban Meyer is looking for houses in Urbana, near Meijer.
November 15th, 2011 at 6:57 PM ^
The terrible pun in your comment is what makes it awesome. Nicely done.
November 15th, 2011 at 4:19 PM ^
November 16th, 2011 at 8:48 AM ^
At Illinois, 410 would take him a few good years.
November 15th, 2011 at 4:14 PM ^
I'm guessing they'll go the coordinator route. Honestly I think Koenning might be given a chance.
November 16th, 2011 at 9:24 AM ^
I remember thinking this very thing while watching the game. His defense seemed really well-coached and played impressively for much of the game, and he generally seems to have his act together in a way that's miles above the Zooker. I bet he'd be a really good candidate.
November 15th, 2011 at 4:15 PM ^
Rival fan bases openly praying that an opposing coach ISN'T fired? That didn't happen with RR did it?
/s
November 15th, 2011 at 4:10 PM ^
To stay at Illinois!
November 15th, 2011 at 4:12 PM ^
I look forward to him and Mason covering the Minnesota-Illinois game as commentators. When both teams are 0-7 and lost a directional Dakota school.
November 15th, 2011 at 5:06 PM ^
I think I read that Mason just took the New Mexico job... so you might have to wati an extra year or two for your dream scenario.
November 15th, 2011 at 5:50 PM ^
Technically, aren't they all directionional?
November 15th, 2011 at 4:13 PM ^
"From a football perspective: why do you keep skiing on water? Strictly speaking of football....and skiing on water...as it relates to football."
November 15th, 2011 at 4:15 PM ^
He communicates the same way I do to my wife. I say "don't do this or I'll do that" and it almost always works that she will do it. Then I have to carry out whatever it was I told her I would do.
Now to figure out how to make it work to attain my actual desires.
November 15th, 2011 at 4:17 PM ^
feel bad for the guy. But If he get's let go it's justfiable.
November 15th, 2011 at 4:18 PM ^
He could only say it so bluntly, but someone had to go and be that person.
I remember way back in the day when they taught journalism students that they were not supposed to be part of the story.
Oh, but Shannon just couldn't pass up that opportunity
And putting "from a football perspective" in front of a question, does not change the question:
"From a football perspective.... when will you be fired?"
"From a football perspective, when did you stop wetting the bed?"
"From a football perspective, why do you like to choke kittens?"
November 15th, 2011 at 4:18 PM ^
Nothing wrong here, he told them what he would do and he did it. He shouldn't have even made a comment. Should have smiled a big Costanza smile and said "Welp that's all for me folks!"
Also, I can't understand how this is like what happened here with RR at all. Zook has been terrible in IL for a number of years (see: more than 3).
November 15th, 2011 at 4:21 PM ^
Zooker has also taken them to the Rose bowl, and significantly improved the program from what it was before he got there.
November 15th, 2011 at 4:22 PM ^
Yeah they're going to back to back bowls for the first time since the late 1970s/early 1980s. Zooks leaving the program in better shape than they found it. He at least deserves to retire.
I also thing the Illinois AD is a moron if he goes HC hunting the same year PSU and tOSU are.
November 15th, 2011 at 5:05 PM ^
Their coach most of that time was John Mackovic. Mackovic was another guy who brought in a lot of talent but didn't know how to use it all that well.
November 15th, 2011 at 4:38 PM ^
I didn't realize that. He should be able to tell the whole room to fuck off if that is the case. He has always been a pretty good recruiter.
November 16th, 2011 at 12:17 PM ^
Let's not get carried away here. Zook has recorded two winning seasons in his first six years on the job (he should get #3 this year, but not by much). His 2007 team only made the Rose Bowl because OSU went to the title game and Illinois won a multi-team tiebreaker after that. He followed up that Rose appearance with back-to-back horrendous seasons. Illinois fans have thrown in the towel on him. The only time Illinois can sell out its 60K stadium is when "archrival" Michigan comes to town. And his recruiting has now fallen off a cliff; Illinois ranks dead last in Ace's B10 chart. Recruiting was the one thing he used to be doing well, but he's not delivering there anymore . . . so what's the point of keeping him around?
November 15th, 2011 at 4:22 PM ^
November 15th, 2011 at 5:15 PM ^
Well, I slept with your wife.
November 15th, 2011 at 5:42 PM ^
November 15th, 2011 at 4:24 PM ^
Someone start the RR to Ill thread.
November 15th, 2011 at 4:36 PM ^
It won't happen, but honestly I think RR would have fit in much better at Illinois than here. Illinois consitently brings in decent recruiting classes, and RR wouldn't have been subject to so much scrutiny there. He could have taken players like Juice Williams and Arrelious Benn and turned Illinois into a dangerous team.
November 16th, 2011 at 3:18 AM ^
But there's no way RR would have left WVU for Illinois. There are very few schools you leave your alma mater for when it is a school similar to what WVU is, and Illinois is not one of them.
November 16th, 2011 at 12:20 PM ^
honestly I think RR would have fit in much better at Illinois than here. Illinois consitently brings in decent recruiting classes,Hmmm... http://mgoblog.com/diaries/big-ten-recruiting-class-rankings-11-13-11
November 15th, 2011 at 4:25 PM ^
Not as classic as when John L. Smith smacked himself at one of his final press conferences but still pretty good.
November 15th, 2011 at 4:28 PM ^
Good for him. That's the only way you can really handle that.
November 15th, 2011 at 4:31 PM ^
And what of Dantonio with his regular, "I'm going to root against my team's best interest" speech again today? Or his pretending that his team wasn't going all World Cup soccer with fake injuries against Iowa.
Anyway, not sure why Zook is so interesting to folks. It's not like Illinois has had anything special since Jeff George.
November 15th, 2011 at 4:34 PM ^
In defense of Dantonio (that just made me nauseous), I took his statement more to mean that MSU controls its own destiny and that they could care less about Michigan's game - they want to win the division by winning their last two games.
November 15th, 2011 at 5:26 PM ^
No, he said this in 2007 when he needed Michigan to beat OSU in order to go to the Rose Bowl. He hates Michigan more than he likes his own team.
November 15th, 2011 at 5:36 PM ^
I'm familiar with what he said in 2007. I think this quote is entirely different because the situations are entirely different. This time around, MSU controls their own fate whereas in 2007 their only chance was a Michigan win.
November 15th, 2011 at 5:50 PM ^
I don't know what he said today, but I'm just pointing out that his point of view is totally out of whack and, regardless of situation this year, he would root for Michigan to lose their next two games, even if that meant his team could not win the division.
November 15th, 2011 at 5:29 PM ^
Is special?