Zook’s firing clearly the best choice for Florida

The firing of University of Florida Head Football Coach Ron Zook comes as no surprise.

Zook was doomed for failure the moment he was hired to lead the Gators on Jan. 9, 2002.

Zook never had a fighting chance of succeeding his predecessor.

It was made clear early that Gator fans wanted Spurrier, not Zook, or anyone else.

What could you possibly have expected from a career assistant whom Spurrier demoted?

Spurrier resigned from the head coaching job after the 2001 season to take the realms of the Washington Redskins.

Soon after the resignation University of Florida Athletic Director Jeremy Foley took a few shots at acquiring the services of University of Oklahoma Head Coach Bob Stoops, or Denver Broncos Head Coach Mike Shannahan.

Both replied to the offer with a gracious “no.” Foley then decided to hire his third choice, assistant coach Ron Zook.

Zook had never been a head coach and was not composed enough to manage a game from the sideline.

This was evident in Florida’s fourth-quarter calamities this season against Tennessee and Louisiana State University.

The same problems occurred versus Miami, Mississippi and Florida State in previous seasons and two consecutive Outback Bowl losses to Michigan and Iowa, respectively.

In Spurrier’s 12 seasons as Florida’s head coach, he never lost to a team with a losing record. Zook, on the other hand, managed to lose to a 1-5 Mississippi State Bulldog squad.

Spurrier lost only five home games in 12 seasons; while Zook lost just six home games in two-and-one-half seasons.

Now comes the tiresome task of finding a new head coach. Gator fans are watering at the mouth with just the idea of a possible Spurrier return.

Spurrier was quoted by the Orlando Sentinel for saying: “The thing I’ve tried to do all this year is not be lingering around, acting like I’m waiting for another guy’s job. I don’t believe that’s the right way to do it.

But now that he doesn’t have a job, I guess there will be some discussion. We’ll see what happens.”

Bring the old ball coach, Steve Spurrier, back.

He is the only one who can bring the Gators out from the basement of mediocrity back to national contention, and from being unranked to being among the top, five mentioned when the Bowl Championship Series polls are released.

The Gators will be just fine without Zook. They’ll be a great team after the last game of the season is played and Zook is led out the door.

Serge Beaubrun is a junior broadcast journalism student from Miami. Contact him at airser2000@yahoo.com.