Wednesday, January 31, 2007

The Zook years as defensive coordinator

Since the moderators at the Swamp Gas forums feel the need to muzzle debate about our former football coach I am posting what I wanted to post over there, over here.

We were talking about how Zook's track record, when analyzed closely, would lead anyone to conclude that his units got worse over time. I was able to post a comparison of his two years as the Defensive Coordinator of the Saints where I showed that the Saints defense regressed in almost every major statistical category. What I wasn't able to post before the thread was locked was the defensive perfomance of the Gators over the 3 seasons that he was Defensive Coordinator in Gainesville before Steve Spurrier demoted him. So here it is:

PPG:
91-13.8
92-22.8
93-19.8

Rushing TDs allowed:
91-7
92-17
93-9

Passing TDs allowed:
91-9
92-12
93-17

Rushing yards per game allowed:
91-100.3
92-156.6
93-111.2

Passing yards per game allowed
91-207.3
92-212.3
93-225.4

Total yards per game allowed
91-307.6
92-368.9
93-336.6

For a guy whose area of "expertise" was the secondary his defenses gave up more passing TDs and yards each successive year.

Now some might say that we can't judge the defense on stats alone. What kind of talent did the Gators have during those 3 years? But the fact is that everybody acknowledges that Ron Zook was the best recruiter on the staff. By 1993 (his 3rd year on the staff) one would think that he had brought in enough talent, at the positions he himself coached, to perform better than in 1991. Unless...

The man just can't coach.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was rather enjoying the thread on Swamp Gas and was disappointed to see it locked.

100% agree with you about Zook. The guy was a grocery store clerk.

I never understood why anyone thought that guy would be able to coach...

Anonymous said...

Personally, I miss him.

Henry Louis Gomez said...

Bluto,

You can catch his act almost every weekend during football season on ESPN2. Mike Gottfried and Pam Ward on the call. Of course I know that's not what you mean but I sure as hell enjoy watching him now.

Gator Duck said...

You bet! Watching the exciteable meathead on the Illinoise sidelines is a great distraction. It reminds me to count my blessing that he is now THEIR problem.

Yep there's trouble in Champagne Urbana.
That's trouble my friends with a capital T, which rhymes with Z, which stands for ZOOK!

Gator Duck said...

Henry, this is a great way to get around the Gator Country censorship.

Gator Duck said...

By his third year at G'ville, Zook not only should have brought in ample talent, but he should have had that defense refined - truly getting better and better. Instead, it got more and more zooked up.

By the way, our friend SMQ in his blog has a fantastic "interview" with Arrelious Benn, the number two prospect in the nation at wide receiver and the twelfth-best overall recruit according to Scout.com. This kid committed to Illinoise and the interview sheds some light on why.

http://www.sundaymorningqb.com/story/2007/1/25/17650/7664#readmore

Henry Louis Gomez said...

Yes I saw that bit of satire from SMQ. ROFL.