I would have to say that there are many coaches out there that I can say that are “PR Nightmares”. Having said that– when you meet a coach that is not only good at what he does, but he is a nice guy– it’s great. An example of one of these coaches is Pete Carroll (of course!), but the other one that comes to mind that I met is Ron Zook.
Coach Zook was the Florida Football coach when I was there in 2002-2005. I remember working out and he would stop by each of the athletes in the weightroom and say, “How are you doing?” or “How is the season going”. I’ll tell you what– I know plenty of coaches that feel that they are “too above” doing that, or they are “too important.” But it meant a lot to me and other athletes that Coach Zook would take the time and talk to us– he is a class act, and others should take lessons from him.
I see this article that was printed in Yahoo! News, and people are asking why Zook is getting these great recruiting classes to Illinois. There are even those out there in the athletic community that say that there must have been some sort of recruiting violation on Zook’s part. What do I have to say to that– that’s just so silly. People want to go to a program where they are appreciated, and not only to get a good education and athletic experience– but they want to work with someone that is NICE. Novel concept, eh?
In closing, I just have to say this: Coach Zook is a great recruiter and coach, and he is a nice guy. Keep up the great work Coach Zook– you have a lot of fans out there! 🙂 Good luck this upcoming football season. 🙂
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