Ron Zook
Ron Zook went 57–65 as a head coach, 2002–2011, at Florida and Illinois. Share
- Record
- 57–65 career
- Seasons
- 10
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Best season
- 2007 9–4, No. 20
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Florida | 8–5 | 2nd (Eastern) | Outback Bowl L | 24 | |
| 2003 | Florida | 8–5 | T–1st (Eastern) | Outback Bowl L | 24 | |
| 2004 | Florida | 7–4 | 3rd (Eastern) | Peach (not coached) | ||
| 2005 | Illinois | 2–9 | 11th | |||
| 2006 | Illinois | 2–10 | 10th | |||
| 2007 | Illinois | 9–4 | 2nd | Rose Bowl L | 20 | |
| 2008 | Illinois | 5–7 | 8th | |||
| 2009 | Illinois | 3–9 | 9th | |||
| 2010 | Illinois | 7–6 | T–4th | Texas Bowl W | ||
| 2011 | Illinois | 6–6 | 5th (Leaders) | Fight Hunger W |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
J LemanConsensus All‑American, 2007
Keiwan RatliffConsensus All‑American, 2003
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 42 | 10–32 | 24% |
| Against top-10 teams | 17 | 7–10 | 41% |
| Against rivals | 57 | 21–36 | 37% |
| Conference games | 80 | 34–46 | 43% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 4 | 1–3 | 25% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 45 | 21–24 | 47% |
| At home | 64 | 36–28 | 56% |
| On the road | 45 | 17–28 | 38% |
| At neutral sites | 13 | 4–9 | 31% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 57 | 40–17 | 70% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 65 | 17–48 | 26% |
His own 122 games on file, 2002–2011, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Paterno 2005–2011 | 2–5 | Penn State | 7 | |
| Pat Fitzgerald 2006–2011 | 3–3 | Northwestern | 6 | |
| Jim Tressel 2005–2010 | 1–5 | Ohio State | 6 | |
| Kirk Ferentz 2003–2008 | 1–4 | Iowa | 5 | |
| Bill Lynch 2007–2010 | 3–1 | Indiana | 4 | |
| Bret Bielema 2006–2011 | 1–3 | Wisconsin | 4 | |
| Gary Pinkel 2007–2010 | 0–4 | Missouri | 4 | |
| Bobby Johnson 2002–2004 | 3–0 | Vanderbilt | 3 | |
| Lou Holtz 2002–2004 | 3–0 | South Carolina | 3 | |
| Mark Richt 2002–2004 | 2–1 | Georgia | 3 |
Ron Zook’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Indianaseries | 7 | 4–3 |
| Northwesternseries | 7 | 3–4 |
| Penn Stateseries | 7 | 2–5 |
| Ohio Stateseries | 7 | 1–6 |
| Michiganseries | 6 | 2–4 |
| Minnesotaseries | 5 | 2–3 |
| Wisconsinseries | 5 | 1–4 |
| Iowaseries | 5 | 1–4 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976–77 | Orrville HS (OH) high school | Defensive backs coach | |
| 1978–80 | Murray State | Defensive backs coach | |
| 1981–82 | Cincinnati | Defensive coordinator | |
| 1983 | Kansas | Defensive coordinator | |
| 1984–86 | Tennessee | Defensive backs coach | |
| 1987 | Virginia Tech | Assistant head coach | |
| 1988–90 | Ohio State | Defensive backs coach | |
| 1991–93 | Florida | Defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | |
| 1994 | Florida | Special teams coordinator | |
| 1995 | Florida | Assistant head coach and special teams coordinator | |
| 1996–98 | Pittsburgh Steelers NFL | Special teams coordinator | |
| 1999 | Kansas City Chiefs NFL | Defensive backs coach | |
| 2000–01 | New Orleans Saints NFL | Defensive coordinator | |
| 2002–04 | Florida | Head coach | |
| 2005–11 | Illinois | Head coach | |
| 2014 | Green Bay Packers NFL | Special teams assistant | |
| 2015–18 | Green Bay Packers NFL | Special teams coordinator | |
| 2019 | Salt Lake Stallions AAF | Special teams coordinator and defensive backs coach | |
| 2019–20 | Maryland | Senior analyst | |
| 2021 | Maryland | Assistant head coach and special teams coordinator | |
| 2023 | Seattle Sea Dragons XFL | Defensive coordinator | |
| 2024–present | Maryland | Special teams quality control coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Mike GottfriedMurray State, Cincinnati, Kansas
- Johnny MajorsTennessee
- Frank BeamerVirginia Tech
- John CooperOhio State
- Steve SpurrierFlorida
- Dennis EricksonSalt Lake Stallions
- Mike LocksleyMaryland
Assistants who became head coaches
- Ed ZaunbrecherUL Monroe
- Jerry OdomTusculum
- John ThompsonEast Carolina, Arkansas State
- Larry FedoraSouthern Miss, North Carolina, New Orleans Breakers
- Charlie StrongFlorida, Louisville, Texas, South Florida
- Mike LocksleyNew Mexico, Maryland
- Art LinkChristopher Newport
- Curt MalloryIndiana State
- Ed WarinnerAvila
- Mike SchultzLamar
- Jeff BrohmWestern Kentucky, Purdue, Louisville
- Paul PetrinoIdaho
- and 1 more
Worked under (7)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Gottfried | Murray State | 1978–80 | Defensive backs coach | |
| Mike Gottfried | Cincinnati | 1981–82 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Mike Gottfried | Kansas | 1983 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Johnny Majors | Tennessee | 1984–86 | Defensive backs coach | |
| Frank Beamer | Virginia Tech | 1987 | Assistant head coach | |
| John Cooper | Ohio State | 1988–90 | Defensive backs coach | |
| Steve Spurrier | Florida | 1991–95 | 1991–93: defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach; 1994: special teams coordinator; 1995: assistant head coach and special teams coordinator | |
| Dennis Erickson | Salt Lake Stallions pro | 2019 | Special teams coordinator and defensive backs coach | |
| Mike Locksley | Maryland | 2019–26 | 2019–20: senior analyst; 2021: assistant head coach and special teams coordinator; 2024–26: special teams quality control coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (13)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ed Zaunbrecher | Florida, 2002–03: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; 2004: quarterbacks coach; Illinois, 2005: passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach | UL Monroe | |
| Jerry Odom | Florida, 2002: special teams and linebackers coach | Tusculum | |
| John Thompson | Florida, 2002: defensive coordinator and middle linebackers coach | East Carolina, Arkansas State | |
| Larry Fedora | Florida, 2002: running game coordinator and running backs and wide receivers coach; 2003: passing game coordinator and running backs and wide receivers coach; 2004: offensive coordinator and running backs and wide receivers coach | Southern Miss, North Carolina, New Orleans Breakers | |
| Charlie Strong | Florida, 2003–04: defensive coordinator and defensive ends coach | Florida, Louisville, Texas, South Florida | |
| Mike Locksley | Florida, 2003–04: running backs coach and recruiting coordinator; Illinois, 2005: offensive coordinator and tight ends coach; 2006–08: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | New Mexico, Maryland | |
| Art Link | Florida, 2004: graduate assistant | Christopher Newport | |
| Curt Mallory | Illinois, 2005–06: defensive backs coach; 2007–09: co-defensive coordinator | Indiana State | |
| Ed Warinner | Illinois, 2005–06: offensive line coach and running game coordinator | Avila | |
| Mike Schultz | Illinois, 2009: offensive coordinator | Lamar | |
| Jeff Brohm | Illinois, 2010–11: quarterbacks coach | Western Kentucky, Purdue, Louisville | |
| Paul Petrino | Illinois, 2010–11: offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach | Idaho | |
| Vic Koenning | Illinois, 2010–11: defensive coordinator | Wyoming, Illinois |
Other assistants under him (6)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Bill Miller | Florida, 2003–04: assistant head coach and linebackers coach | |
| Joe Cullen | Illinois, 2005: defensive assistant | |
| Mike Mallory | Illinois, 2005: defensive coordinator | |
| Vince Okruch | Illinois, 2006: defensive coordinator | |
| Dan Disch | Illinois, 2007–09: co-defensive coordinator | |
| Chip Long | Illinois, 2010–11: tight ends and fullbacks coach |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Illinois | head coachbonuses up to $65,650 | $1,753,500 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2010 | Illinois | head coachbonuses up to $52,650 | $1,508,500 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2009 | Illinois | head coachbonuses up to $52,650 | $1,505,000 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2008 | Illinois | head coach | $1,350,000 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2007 | Illinois | head coachbonuses up to $26,650 | $1,055,000 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2006 | Illinois | head coachbonuses up to $28,600 | $1,241,750 USA Today via Leeds |
The same USA Today database for 2006–16, from Michael Leeds’ replication data on Harvard Dataverse (CC0): the season’s contract pay.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Zook’s teams went for it on 14% of fourth downs and on 27% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 44% of plays and took 24.1 seconds a play, 2004–2011.
| Season | School | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 11 g | Florida | 6 of 71 8% | 25% | 49% | 20.6 | +0.12 | |
| 2005 10 g | Illinois | 10 of 85 12% | 23% | 50% | 22.9 | −0.10 | |
| 2006 12 g | Illinois | 10 of 94 11% | 23% | 47% | 25.3 | −0.13 | |
| 2007 13 g | Illinois | 8 of 90 9% | 27% | 37% | 24.9 | −0.01 | |
| 2008 12 g | Illinois | 13 of 83 16% | 28% | 49% | 23.9 | +0.01 | |
| 2009 12 g | Illinois | 21 of 103 20% | 34% | 44% | 22.9 | 0.00 | |
| 2010 13 g | Illinois | 11 of 100 11% | 20% | 34% | 25.0 | +0.01 | |
| 2011 13 g | Illinois | 21 of 104 20% | 37% | 43% | 26.7 | −0.08 | |
| All 96 g | 100 of 730 14% | 27% | 44% | 24.1 | −0.02 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.