GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Ron Zook will be introduced as Florida's new coach Wednesday, officially ending a cross-country search that put the career assistant in one of the most prestigious coaching jobs in the country. <br>
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Zook, who leaves as defensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints, will be introduced as Florida's 20th head coach at a news conference, sports information director John Humenik said. <br>
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The Florida Times-Union reported Wednesday that Zook is expected to get a five-year contract worth $1.5 million annually. That's about $600,000 less per year than his predecessor, Steve Spurrier, made. <br>
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Foley met with Zook for about two hours Tuesday after another good friend, Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan, turned down the job. On Monday, still another friend of Foley's, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops, also said ``No'' to the Gators. <br>
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Like Stoops, Zook is a former defensive coordinator at Florida, although his tenure wasn't as successful. <br>
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Zook held the position from 1991-93, before Spurrier demoted him to special teams coordinator and linebackers coach in 1994. He did such a good job in that position that Spurrier was going to give him the job back for the 1996 season. But Zook chose to leave Florida for an assistant's job in the pros, in hopes of adding to his resume so he could someday be a head coach. <br>
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He spent three seasons as special teams coach with the Steelers and one year as defensive backs coach with Kansas City, before joining Haslett in New Orleans. The Saints were a top-10 defense last season, but struggled this season, allowing 160 points in their final four games. <br>
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This will be Zook's first head-coaching job, and he has quite a challenge ahead, trying to follow the coach who once demoted him. <br>
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Spurrier went 122-27-1 in his 12 seasons at Florida. He led the Gators to their only national championship in 1996, and helped bring six Southeastern Conference titles to a program that hadn't won a single one previously. <br>
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Zook is known for his fiery personality, but he certainly isn't Stoops or Shanahan, and how the hire will go over in Gainesville is hard to know. <br>
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The first people Zook must convince, however, aren't fans, but quarterback Rex Grossman and a handful of teammates who have wavered on their decisions to return in the wake of Spurrier's sudden resignation. <br>
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Grossman, the Heisman Trophy runner-up, said he would love to return if Shanahan were the coach, but made no commitments beyond that. <br>
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``We've been in a holding pattern,'' Grossman's father, Dan, told The Gainesville Sun. ``Honestly, Rex would really like to stay at Florida. Jeremy Foley called and talked to Rex and said, `You have to trust me. I'm going to get a good guy in here.' We said, `Go get him.''' <br>
