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Spurrier's shadow over Zook

New Gators coach freely discusses the man he replaces, and welcomes the pressure.

By ANTONYA ENGLISH, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published August 1, 2002

[AP photo] Florida football coach Ron Zook signs autographs for fans after arriving in Birmingham, Ala.

HOOVER, Ala. -- As Ron Zook stood in front of hundreds of reporters Wednesday in his first official league appearance as Florida coach, most of the questions were about Steve Spurrier.

After 12 seasons, Spurrier is gone but clearly not forgotten in the SEC. For the past two days, talk of Spurrier and his departure to the NFL's Washington Redskins has dominated the SEC media days.

The reporters are talking about him. The coaches are talking about him. So, too, are the players.

"I'm going to miss watching him on the sidelines," South Carolina defensive back Rashad Faison said. "That was a lot of fun."

What will the league be like without Spurrier? Can Florida win without Spurrier? Will anyone care about Florida without Spurrier? And does everybody else in the league get a shot at being top dog now that Spurrier is gone?

You want to talk about Spurrier? Fine. Zook took it all in stride.

"Not at all," Zook answered when asked if he was tired of hearing about Spurrier. "I worked for Coach Spurrier for five years and I learned a lot of football from (him). He's done a great job. All you have to do is look at the record and where he set the bar.

"People say it's not good to follow Coach Spurrier, but I think our players know the expectations at the University of Florida and they know that they are expected to win. They know the pressures that are there and to me that's a positive."

While Zook spent the morning saying all the right things, two of his players -- junior quarterback Rex Grossman and sophomore defensive tackle Ian Scott -- spent their time trying to downplay the loss of Spurrier.

"Hopefully, everybody isn't going to be talking about Coach Spurrier the whole season," Scott said. " ... There's a different feel to the SEC now that Coach Spurrier is gone, but hopefully we can get past that whole thing and be able to play some football here pretty soon."

Added Grossman: "You guys (reporters) are going to miss him more than we are."

That remains to be seen.

With an almost all-new coaching staff and a schedule that includes defending national champion Miami, Tennessee, Georgia and FSU, the pressure is on at UF to prove that life does go on -- with winning -- after Spurrier.

"This is the time of the year when everyone is anticipating big things and there are a lot of questions about the University of Florida right now," Zook said. "But, to be honest with you, we kind of like that."

Zook says he understands it all: the doubters, the questions and the inability of many fans to let go of Spurrier's legacy. In fact, even he has never completely cut ties with his former boss.

"I've been gone for six years and during the years, particularly when the big games were coming up, I'd call and wish him luck," Zook said. "I talked to him last Friday. When I first got the job, we were going so fast, we really didn't spend a lot of time talking then, but I've talked to him several times (since he was hired).

"He's even called me up asking my opinion about several people in the NFL. I don't see any reason why we won't continue to talk."

Grossman

The players also are aware that the unknown factor of Zook has many doubting the Gators. Grossman said that's fine with the team. He knows other teams quietly have decided this is the year to finally get the Gators.

"Yeah, we want them thinking that," Grossman said. "I think they're thinking that, and we want them to be thinking that. They can think that the Gators are slipping a little bit, and go ahead and run their mouth."

Scott, a Gainesville native, said he was stunned along with the rest of the nation when Spurrier resigned, but he is looking forward to playing for Zook.

"Now that I sit down and think about it, he was probably the most logical person (to hire) because he was here before," Scott said. "Now he's going to get his opportunity to be able to establish his own legacy here at the University of Florida. I'm looking forward to it."

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