Before there was Booch…

… the Zooker used to lead the SEC in empty expressions.

It’s good to see the man hasn’t lost his touch.

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Look who’s back.

Shit, I meant to post this yesterday and forgot.

Ron Zook is back in the B1G! #Maryland makes it official and hires Zook, the former Illinois coach, as special teams coordinator/outside linebackers coach. Terps coach Mike Locksley served as Zook's offensive coordinator when Illinois went to the Rose Bowl in 2007.

— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) February 16, 2021

Mea culpa, Zooker.  2021 keeps looking up from a blogging perspective.

Thursday morning buffet

A veritable smorgasbord for you…

• Here’s the entire 2020 schedule for the SEC.  Don’t laugh at this, but the biggest roadblock to Georgia’s winning the division next season may be Florida’s schedule, which is a little on the light side.
• Turning to this season, Tennessee just lost its most experienced defensive lineman, who suffered a torn ACL.
• The Vols also had a returning offensive lineman up and walk out the door.  Not a good day in Knoxville.
• Once Florida’s 2019 star signee, Chris Steele got his transfer waiver to play for USC this season.
• The NCAA can’t bring itself to accommodate gamblers, declines to implement standardized injury reports.
• SI’s preseason Top 25 has the usual suspects occupying the top four slots.
• The Zooker is back, baybee!
• A presidential candidate advocates paying college players.
• According to Mark Bradley, Geoff Collins has a tough act to follow.  Talk about a way to make me instantly sympathize with Collins…

Zooker and The Hat

No, it’s not Hollywood’s latest buddy flick.  It’s my favorite offseason rumor.

Needless to say, I’m disappointed somebody had to go out there and spoil it with, you know, real news:  “A source close to the LSU staff told The Advocate that Zook is not a serious candidate.”  Damn it!

Hey, I’m not giving up.  This is Les Miles we’re talking about here.  Some of those fourth down calls weren’t serious, either.

Monday morning buffet

If your appetite is whetted, have you some.

• Georgia has gone 244 games without being shut out, which is a school record and the third-longest streak in SEC history.
• You know I love gallows humor.  This is epic.
• Boom’s being cute about who his starting quarterback will be.
• PAWWWLLL, IT’S A CONSPIRACY!
• Mark Richt continues to say there’s a chance Georgia plays with a two-quarterback rotation.
• Trick play of the week.
• You can just sense that Bradley and Schultz are poised for a comeback by the genius.
• From Rock M Nation, a graphic presentation of Georgia’s defensive production.
• Jarvis Jones was on Georgia’s sideline last Saturday.  I know where I’d rather have him this Saturday.

Tuesday morning buffet

Mmm, mmm good…

• Now it’s time to worry:  KC Joyner loves the Georgia offense.
• Methinks the Big 12 has an inferiority complex.
• Florida hasn’t had a receiver with over 600 yards since the 2009 season.
• Phil Steele says the talent level is not a 49-0 difference between Auburn and Alabama.
• Chris Brown thinks college football needs a better box score.  I heartily agree on the average starting field position stat.
• Mark Richt has lost control of the hot seat meme.
• John Infante writes if the NFL is really serious about academic eligibility, it ought to go all in.
• Guess who wants to be on ESPN’s College GameDay?
• Life after football for the Zooker.  That’s almost as strange as Woody Widenhofer working in a tollbooth.

Tuesday morning buffet

Dig in, y’all.

• It’s the little things about SOD’s tenure in Knoxville you appreciate:  “The two seasons under Dooley were the first back-to-back losing years in program history in 100 years.”
• That’s a trend his assistant coaches hope gets reversed this year.
• Damn you, FOIA requests!:  evidently some Arkansas boosters want to provide the football coach with a private phone.
• Meanwhile everybody at Arkansas – including Bobby Petrino – loves the John L. Smith hire.  (If it’s such a great move, why only commit to a ten-month contract?)
• File this under dogs and cats, living together.
• Somebody needs to explain to me why having a spring game against another school interferes with developing players while playing one that’s inter-squad doesn’t.
• An IRS official takes the position that paying college players wouldn’t affect schools’ tax-exempt status.
• Former agent Josh Luchs says most agents lose on their first deal with a client because after the third round of the draft, the commission check will not cover expenses already spent and invested on that prospect, which seems to beg an obvious question.
• In case you’re interested, Matt Hayes thinks Jarvis Jones and Aaron Murray are two of the fifteen best players in the country right now.

Don’t cry for me, Gainesville.

This weekend, between the fried shrimp and classic cars, I managed to read this epic troll from Mike Bianchi.  And when I say epic, I mean epic.  I’m not sure how Bianchi ever tops this, for one:

As the years have passed since he was run out of Florida, I’ve often wondered whether Zook got a fair shake — from fans, from administrators and from those of us in the media. When you see where the program is now after Urban Meyer left it in a mess, the Zook years are starting to look pretty good. Zook’s teams were never as pathetic as UF has been the past two seasons, when the Gators won just 15 games and trotted out offenses that were unwatchable.

As the years roll by, UF fans more and more seem to appreciate what Zook did for the program.

Gosh, that almost makes you wonder why Jeremy Foley didn’t man up, admit his mistake and beg Zooker to come back and salvage the program when Corch left.  Who really cares about those two national titles Florida won under Meyer, anyway?

Speaking of which, a man can dream can’t he?

Two years after Zook was axed, Meyer won the national title with 21 of 22 Zook recruits starting for the team. Zook still wonders what might have happened if he had been able to survive longer than 21/2 years at UF. Would he have won a national title?

I don’t know,” he says, “but I sure would have liked to have had the opportunity to try.”

Spoken like a man who was Croom’d.

Zook just shakes his head.

“That’s my legacy to the profession,” he says. “I’m the first guy who had a FireTheCoach.com website. I had no chance. From the day I walked into the introductory press conference, I was fired.”

Bianchi has painted his masterpiece.   A man can do great things when the threat of being banished to Seat 37F no longer looms large.

He’s orange, rested and ready.

If we can’t have the Zooker on the Plains, this wouldn’t be a bad consolation prize.

UT has contacted former UT asst ron zook about DC job. Zook is former head coach at fla and illinois and has been successful DC. he'd listen

— Jimmy Hyams (@JimmyHyams) January 9, 2012

Tennessee, he’s got SEC head coaching experience, in case SOD doesn’t work out.  Just sayin’.

Life imitates art.

There’s no way this comes to fruition, but if it would help, I’d be willing to pay good money for it.

Auburn: Sources tell me that Auburn head coach Gene Chizik has interest in former Illinois head coach Ron Zook for the defensive coordinator position.

Trooper and Zooker.  Man, talk about your dream team coaching staff.  That would be your ultimate controlled experiment of Jimmies-and-Joes vs. Xs-and-Os.  Sort of recruiting über alles.