December 7, 2004

Story   Zook's Inagural Speech Gallery  

Senior DB Morris Virgil
On the hiring of Zook and his southern ties...
"It's a good experience. It's going to be kind of different to get somebody from down south who can maybe get some guys up here from a little bit different culture. It's just exciting to get somebody in here to get us going and get the program running. Now we've got our head man."

On the definition of a player's coach...
"The definition of a player's coach to me is someone who can look you in the eye; tell you why you're not playing, why you are playing. Just explain the things to you that get you out there and motivated to want to win games and to be a team guy... not to be just an individual, but a team player."

On what he hopes Zook can bring to the program...
"With my one year left and the future of the guys still here, I'm just hoping he brings wins. Everyone wants to see this program win and it's a program that should be winning-that's why I came here and that's what everyone wants to see."

RS Freshman QB Brad Bower
On the excitement of hiring Ron Zook as Illinois head coach...
"We've all just been wondering who our coach is going to be. Now that we've got Coach Zook, everyone's excited and personally, knowing the system he runs, I can't wait to be a part of it."

On the rumor mill of who Illinois' next head coach would be...
"We've heard a lot of names thrown out there, but you never know. There's always so much speculation. But recently, more and more, we've heard Coach Zook's name and we kept getting more excited for the opportunity to work with him."

On the excitement of the future of Illinois football...
"When Mr. Guenther came to talk to us, he was looking for the same kind of enthusiasm and he found it. It's going to be an exciting year. A lot of us were together last night just talking because we've been seeing things in the paper and everything, and all of us are very excited for this opportunity. I've seen parts of them. I haven't seen many of them, but I know that they like to run that spread offense and I like it. It's going to be fun."

Junior DT Ryan Matha
On the hiring of Ron Zook...
"A couple guys have known some guys who have played for Coach Zook and they called them because everybody is wondering what he's like. Once we heard the name Ron Zook, he was the players' choice. He's the guy that all the players wanted to come in here. I know Mr. Guenther probably didn't know that, but it worked out well. We all had faith that Mr. Guenther would bring in the best football guy he could and we let him do his job and had faith in him."

Sophomore QB Chris Pazan
On the excitement of hiring Ron Zook...
"There's been a buzz for a little bit now with his name's being brought up, and every time his name gets brought up, everybody gets excited talking about him. I didn't know much about him, but we were excited once we heard his name and everything he's done at Florida."

On Zook's reputation with Quarterbacks...
"Obviously as a QB you love throwing the ball, so that's good to see. I liked him saying that we're not just proving ourselves to him, but they're proving themselves to us just looking to earn a mutual respect. I like the things he had to say, and we're all really excited about him and his new staff."

On the past 15 days without a head coach...
"Over the past couple weeks, we've really come together as a unit. We had the strength coach and a few other coaches available, but we came together as a team because we were kind of on our own. Now is the next step. We've got our new coach and we're going to see what they want us to do and do whatever they ask."

Junior DB Travis Williams
On his expectations for Coach Zook and the future...
"Hopefully he can bring in a lot of good players. I've got one year left and hopefully next year we can start rebuilding and maybe get a Big Ten championship. We're just trying to start it off right."

On his role, as a player, in recruiting...
"All they do is get the players to come here, and then they give it to us. We get to take them out and show them how the life really is and show them how great this university is, so basically, it's on our shoulders to make a good recruiting class."

On his knowledge of Florida football under Zook...
"All I know is that they fly around and that they've got playmakers. Hopefully some guys on our team can step up and make plays and turn this thing around."

Junior WR Kendrick Jones
On his view of hiring Ron Zook...
"He was one of the better guys out there on the market, so when you snag somebody like that, it's a big boost for the club and knowing the expectations on the upcoming year as far as winning goes, it was important that we got a top-notch guy off the market. Obviously we have the talent. No one would want to coach a bunch of no-bodies. So the talent is here, and he knows that. Hopefully he's going to work with us and we're going to give 100 percent and try to pull out some wins this upcoming year."

On Coach Zook's offensive style...
"We know that he likes to open it up a little bit, put four wide receivers out on the field and throw the ball. So there's been a lot of talk about the offense being a spread offense."

Sophomore RB E.B. Halsey
On what he sees in Coach Zook...
"As a player you want a coach who's going to challenge you and bring the best out of you every day, week after week, and I think that's what he's going to do. I was just really excited because I've heard a lot of great things about Coach Zook. It was evident in seeing him being carried off the field after they beat Florida State how much he meant to those players down there. And I just want some of that to happen up here."

On Ron Guenther and his coaching selection...
"I knew that Coach Guenther would go out and select the right guy for this program. When he spoke to us on his own, he was real energetic - we thought he was getting ready to tell us he (Guenther) was going to be our next head coach. We were just happy that he would keep us in the loop. We were just waiting for him to pull the trigger on somebody and now we can just go from here. We're just excited to get somebody in here. We've been waiting for this for a long time. We just felt that Ron Guenther would bring the best guy in. We took his word for it, we trusted him and we know what we have here and that we got a guy in here who brings a lot of energy and will help us get some wins.

Athletic Director Ron Guenther
On selection of Ron Zook...
"We had a terrific pool of people, but after we worked through that pool there was no question that one guy stood above the rest, and that was coach Ron Zook."

On integrity and honesty...
"It was really important that we found a guy with integrity and honesty. As we worked our way through it (the hiring process) we knew this was a guy who will look you in the eye and tell you why things are happening. He's an honest, good guy."

On academics...
"We've set our goals high in academics. Word came through that Ron and his staff have made a push to make sure that we can get the job done in the classroom."

On recruiting ability...
"It wasn't five or ten minutes into our conversation that I felt the passion that he has not only for football, but his ability to recruit. We are talking about someone who also has high energy. His high energy, toughness and discipline I think then led to his style of play, which we were looking for. We wanted a guy who could come in and be a leader, but at the same time set a style of play where we are open and moving it on offense, and then gives us the aggressiveness and toughness that we wanted on defense."

On Zook being a institutional fit...
"It's always a wild card, but there wasn't any doubt about this being an institutional fit. We are a terrific institution, we are a research institution and we are an engine. He's been in that kind of an arena before. This is a great personal fit as well. We like to work with people that we get along with and I think you'll find him to be an excellent ambassador for our institution. He and his family will move in and do everything they can to be a part of Champaign-Urbana, the state of Illinois and in a greater sense nationwide. It's a great fit for me and it's an honor that he will have this job and I'm pleased that we will be able to work together."