Florida coach says the change at offensive coordinator was made with an eye on speeding up the tempo and improving the QB.
By ANTONYA ENGLISH
Published February 7, 2004
GAINESVILLE - Larry Fedora stepped to the lectern for the first time as Florida's offensive coordinator Friday and described his feelings as "bittersweet."
Twenty-four hours earlier, Florida coach Ron Zook called Fedora and said: "You're going to be our offensive coordinator."
Zook demoted Ed Zaunbrecher and replaced him with Fedora, who was the perimeter game coordinator/receivers coach.
"Obviously I'm excited, extremely excited about it," said Fedora, 41. "But I've also been working with Ed for two years. I know everyone out there evidently thought it was a bad relationship, but it wasn't. We have a very good relationship and I want that relationship to continue."
Zaunbrecher, 53, is expected to remain on staff as the quarterbacks coach.
"This offense is not going to change, it's the same system," Zook said. "... The change we're making is simply just adding a little more tempo, a little more excitement."
Zook said the decision to make a change came after his annual evaluation of himself and his staff. Ten years ago, Zook was demoted by then-coach Steve Spurrier, and he said Friday he understands what Zaunbrecher is experiencing. He added the change will allow Zaunbrecher to more closely instruct quarterbacks, which should improve the offense.
"Obviously we think we've got a pretty good quarterback and he's got an opportunity to be an awfully, awfully good player," Zook said of Chris Leak. "We want to do everything possible to make sure he can be the best he can be."
Fedora was the offensive coordinator at Middle Tennessee State for three years before joining Zook's staff in 2002. During his tenure, the Blue Raiders averaged 424 yards on offense, 181 rushing yards, 31 points and broke 43 offensive school records and one NCAA record. This past season, the Gators ranked 36th nationally in passing offense, averaging 245.4 yards, and were 46th in the country in total offense (391.3).
"There are some glaring areas we know we need to improve on," Fedora said. "We'll go back and evaluate and see what we need to do different or if we need to change the way that we're coaching or change personnel in those areas. It's too hard to tell you right now exactly what changes are going to be made."
