Ron Zook Ron Zook ( born April 28 , 1954 ) is a former American football coach and player . He served as the head football coach at the University of Florida from 2002 to 2004 and the University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign from 2005 to 2011 . Zook is a native of Ohio and an alumnus of Miami University , where he played college football . He has worked as an assistant coach in the National Football League ( NFL ) with the Pittsburgh Steelers ( 1996 – 1998 ) , Kansas City Chiefs ( 1999 ) , and New Orleans Saints ( 2000 – 2001 ) . In August 2012 it was announced that he has been hired as a college football studio analyst by CBS Sports . Early career . Zook was born in Loudonville , Ohio in 1954 . He played college football as a defensive back for Miami University , and graduated with a bachelor ' s degree in 1976 . Zook immediately began coaching football , beginning at Orrville High School in Orrville , Ohio in 1976 . In 1978 , Zook began coaching college football at Murray State University . Through the 1980s , Zook held coaching positions with a number of college football teams , including Cincinnati , Kansas , Tennessee , Virginia Tech , and Ohio State . Beginning in 1991 , Zook served as defensive coordinator for three seasons at the University of Florida under head coach Steve Spurrier . After the 1993 season , Spurrier reassigned Zook to be the special teams coordinator , a move considered by many to be a demotion . Nonetheless , in 1995 , Spurrier added the title of associate head coach to Zook ' s position . In 1996 , Spurrier promoted Zook back to defensive coordinator following the departure of Bobby Pruett , but Zook left Florida to coach in the NFL . Zook served three seasons as special teams coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers , and was the defensive back s coach for the Kansas City Chiefs in 1999 . In the 2000 and 2001 seasons , Zook was the defensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints . Head coaching career . University of Florida . In January 2002 Spurrier resigned to become the head coach of the Washington Redskins of the NFL , and Florida hired Zook as his replacement . Given the success of Spurrier ' s 12 - year tenure , expectations were high . Zook ' s hiring was not popular with followers of Florida football , with one fan starting a website ( " FireRonZook . com " ) within a day of Zook ' s hiring that gained national media attention . Many fraternity houses hung banners from week to week either praising Zook or calling for his firing . Zook was head coach at Florida for three seasons . The Gators compiled records of 8 – 5 ( 2002 ) , 8 – 5 ( 2003 ) and 7 – 5 ( 2004 ) . While he achieved some success , Zook ' s record fell well short of what Florida fans had come to expect . In his three seasons the Gators lost more games at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium than in twelve seasons under Spurrier . Many of the losses were fourth quarter comebacks by the opposition , causing many fans to question the prevent defense which was employed . Zook did not beat a ranked opponent at home during his time at Florida . Zook was fired before the end of the 2004 season after a 38 – 31 road loss to the Mississippi State Bulldogs ( who were 1 – 5 prior to the game , including a home loss to Division I - AA Maine ) . Zook finished the regular season , but did not coach the Gators in the Peach Bowl because he had already accepted the head coach ' s job at Illinois . Defensive coordinator Charlie Strong coached the Gators in the Peach Bowl . After Zook ' s departure , his successor Urban Meyer won a national title in 2006 , largely with players whom Zook had recruited . During his time at Florida , Zook did have some notable accomplishments . He handed both the 2002 Georgia Bulldogs and 2003 LSU Tigers their only loss of the year . His Gators defeated three highly - ranked teams in succession in 2003 , all away from home ( LSU , Arkansas and Georgia ) . In his final game he defeated the Florida State Seminoles at Tallahassee , something Steve Spurrier never did . This victory occurred on the night FSU dedicated Bobby Bowden Field , leading Gator fans to refer to it as Ron Zook Field . Zook had winning records against SEC foes Georgia ( 2 – 1 ) and Auburn ( 1 – 0 ) . Zook was regarded as a fine recruiter who brought a great deal of talent to Florida during his tenure as head coach . Following the Gators ' victory over Ohio State in the 2007 BCS National Championship Game , Urban Meyer praised Zook for recruiting the large class of seniors who played in the game . Twenty - two of the 24 starters were recruited to Florida by Zook . University of Illinois . In 2005 , the University of Illinois hired Zook to replace Ron Turner as the head coach of the Illinois Fighting Illini football team . Zook inherited a program which had become a disaster since winning the Big Ten championship in 2001 , finishing 1 – 11 in 2003 and 3 – 8 in 2004 , including Big Ten records of 0 – 8 and 1 – 7 , respectively . In Zook ' s inaugural season of 2005 , Illinois finished with an overall record of 2 – 9 , and a record of 0 – 8 in Big Ten games . Despite his team ' s past struggles , Zook improved the ability of Illinois to recruit top football talent . According to one source , the 2006 recruiting class was one of the 30 best in college football . Despite this , they finished the 2006 season 1 – 7 in the conference and 2 - 10 overall . While the record did not improve , the play on the field did as the Illini nearly upset top ranked Ohio State in Champaign before losing 17 – 10 . Additionally , the Illini played well against Iowa , Wisconsin , and Penn State ( they lost 63 – 10 the year before ; Penn State led 56 – 3 at halftime ) but ended up losing close games ( they were down 15 – 12 at Penn State until Penn State broke open the close game to make it 26 – 12 ) . The 2006 recruiting class included Isiah " Juice " Williams of Chicago Vocational High School , considered to be one of the top quarterback recruits in the country . In late 2006 , Zook signed Arrelious Benn , one of the top wide receiver prospects in the 2007 class . More recently , Zook also won over Simeon High School standout Martez Wilson along with Florida prospect D ' Angelo McCray . This class was one of Illinois ' best in recent memory , being rated within the top 25 nationally by some experts . 2007 season . Zook ' s recruiting success finally began to pay dividends during the 2007 season . After losing a close game on neutral turf to a Missouri squad which went on to be ranked as high as # 1 , the Illini ran off five straight wins , including back - to - back home wins over Penn State and Wisconsin . Illinois ' 5 – 1 start gave them a # 18 ranking in the AP Poll . This was Illinois ' first ranking in the AP Poll since the end of the 2001 season . However , the ranking proved to be short - lived after consecutive losses to Iowa and Michigan . A homecoming win over Ball State gave the Illini bowl eligibility and a blowout win at Minnesota all but assured Zook ' s first bowl appearance as coach of the Illini . On November 10 , the then - unranked Illini defeated # 1 - ranked Ohio State in Columbus , ending the Buckeyes ' 28 game home winning streak . The Illini finished the 2007 regular season by defeating Northwestern to finish 9 – 3 overall , 6 – 2 in the Big Ten . Because Big Ten champion Ohio State played in the BCS National Championship game , Illinois received a bid to play in the Rose Bowl as the second ranked team in the Big Ten . Their improvement of 7 wins over the 2006 season was the largest such increase of any Division I team . His success earned Zook a contract extension in October 2007 , which paid him approximately $ 1 . 5 million through the 2013 season . Zook ' s success on recruiting trail continued as well , with Illinois having the # 17 recruiting class in 2008 according to rivals . com . On November 20 , 2007 , Ron Zook was selected as the Big Ten Coach of the Year . Zook also was awarded the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award following the 2007 season . After making the 2008 Rose Bowl , Illinois was squashed , 49 – 17 , by the USC Trojans , putting a bit of a damper on an otherwise great season . 2008 season . Expectations were high for 2008 , but Illinois didn ' t live up to those expectations early on , as they lost to Missouri , 52 – 42 , in their season opener and to Penn State , 38 – 24 . After a 27 – 20 loss to Minnesota , Illinois crushed Indiana , 55 – 13 . However , the Fighting Illini fell to Wisconsin the very next week ; Wisconsin had been winless in Big Ten play prior to that game . While Zook ' s team was able to upset Iowa , 27 – 24 , a week after their loss to Wisconsin , Illini finished 2008 with a three - game losing streak at the hands of Western Michigan ( 23 – 17 ) , Ohio State ( 30 – 20 ) , and Northwestern ( 27 – 10 ) . 2009 season . Despite a very disappointing 2008 season , Zook ' s 2009 Fighting Illini team received AP Poll votes . As they had the previous two years , Illinois started off the season with a loss to Missouri , but this time , the result was far more lopsided than the previous affairs ; Missouri won 39 – 7 . Illinois stomped Illinois State , 45 – 17 , the next week , but then suffered an embarrassing 30 – 0 shutout at the hands of Ohio State . Illinois lost their next four games by 10 points or more ( including a 27 – 14 loss to Indiana , which was the Hoosiers ' only Big Ten win of the season ) , sinking to 1 – 6 overall . Zook ' s team then put together a stunning blowout of the Michigan Wolverines in Memorial Stadium , and followed it up with a 35 – 32 upset of Minnesota the very next week . After back - to - back wins , the Illini fell to the rival Northwestern Wildcats , 21 – 16 . To close out the season , the Fighting Illini put up a fight against Cincinnati , who finished the year undefeated , but were unable to pull off the upset ; and the Fighting Illini fell at home to Fresno State in a wild 53 – 52 game the very next week . At the end of the 2009 season , offensive coordinator Mike Schultz was released from his contract , and co - defensive coordinators Dan Disch and Curt Mallory were demoted to position coaches . Illinois hired Paul Petrino as offensive coordinator , and Vic Koenning as defensive coordinator . 2010 season . After back - to - back disappointing years , the Illini had almost no pre - season expectations entering 2010 . Juice Williams and Arrelious Benn were no longer on the team . However , running back Mikel Leshoure was , and he proved to be an invaluable asset on offense , where Illinois started freshman Nathan Scheelhaase at quarterback . They started off 2010 by losing to Missouri for the fourth consecutive year ; however , they were able to take a 13 – 3 lead on Missouri , one that almost wound up lasting the length of the game . After the early loss , Illinois defeated Southern Illinois , 35 – 3 , and Northern Illinois , 28 – 22 . While the Fighting Illini lost to Ohio State in their Big Ten opener , they were able to give the Buckeyes a scare , knocking out quarterback Terrelle Pryor and holding the Buckeye passing offense almost entirely in check . Illinois then traveled to State College to take on the Nittany Lions , and Illinois had never won in Beaver Stadium prior to 2010 . Illinois handed Penn State a stunning 33 – 13 loss on homecoming . They went on to win the Texas Bowl in a blow - out against Baylor . 2011 season . As the 2011 season begun , the Illini were picked by most experts to finish near the bottom of the newly - formed Leaders Division . However , Illinois got off to one of their best starts in history by winning their first six games . After taking care of Arkansas State , 33 – 15 , and blasting South Dakota State , 56 – 3 , the Fighting Illini won a trio of home games by a margin of a field goal over 22nd - ranked Arizona State ( 17 – 14 ) , Western Michigan ( 23 – 20 ) , and Northwestern ( 38 – 35 ) in a game where Illinois rallied from a 28 – 10 deficit in the second half . After defeating Indiana , 41 – 20 , in Illinois ' first road game of the season , the Illini were 6 – 0 for the first time since 1951 and climbed to 15th in the Coaches ' Poll and 16th in the AP Poll . However , the Illini lost , 17 – 7 , to Ohio State and the season seemed headed towards a downward spiral as Illinois lost a pair of close road games at Purdue ( 21 – 14 ) and Penn State ( 10 – 7 ) . Illinois returned home and lost to Michigan , 31 – 14 . On the Tuesday before the Wisconsin game , Zook opened his weekly press conference by warning the reporters to ask questions about the upcoming game and not about his job status . When reporter Shannon Ryan of the " Chicago Tribune " asked Zook if he had talked to his players about the rumors pertaining to his future , he promptly walked out of the press conference . The Illini went on to lose to Wisconsin , 28 – 17 , and finished the regular season with a 27 – 7 loss to Minnesota . With the loss to the Golden Gophers , Illinois became the first team in NCAA Division I FBS history to start a season 6 – 0 , and end it at 6 – 6 . Zook was fired on November 27 , 2011 . His final record at Illinois was 34 – 51 . The Illini did receive bowl eligibility and went on to defeat UCLA in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl . It was first time in school history the football team won back - to - back bowl games .