StatTiger 3,188 Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 Florida senior Casey Griffith told UPD that Zook discussed, at practice, the fight between the fraternity members and his players. According to the report, Griffith said Zook was planning to cancel practice Sept. 16 and have the entire team go stand in front of Pi Kappa Phi while its members were eating dinner, but other UF coaches talked Zook out of it. What a and he's probably on his way out after this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auman64 0 Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 don't know how to link.. but here is an article on it from the sun sentinental newspaper SPORTS COMMENTARY: MIKE BIANCHI Sports Commentary -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mike Bianchi Back to recent columns email story Print story STORIES Zook, frat members in verbal spat Oct 13, 2004 E-MAIL Mike Bianchi A failure to communicate Published October 13, 2004 A confrontation in front of a fraternity house? Threatening other students? Cursing at them? No, these aren't allegations against University of Florida football players; they're allegations against the University of Florida football coach. Hey, maybe, Ron Zook should suspend himself for the Middle Tennessee State game. Why is it that even when Zooker tries to do the right thing, it takes a wrong turn? The man shows up to keep his players out of the newspaper, and he ends up in the headline. The latest controversy involving Zook has nothing to do with his team losing late-game leads but has everything to do with Zook allegedly losing his cool in a conversation/confrontation with members of UF's Pi Kappa Phi fraternity nearly a month ago. According to a police interview with an assistant dean of students, here is what Zook told members of the frat house when he arrived to defuse a potential confrontation between his players and fraternity members: "I'm not going to let you take the [bleeping] football team down." "I'm going to do whatever I gotta do to make sure you guys go down." "Oh, don't worry, you're going to get yours." Zook denied making that last threat to a fraternity member, but he admitted Tuesday night that he made some of the other alleged comments. Alpha Delta Dumb. You can read all the details of the incident in the accompanying article by Sentinel reporter Jeff Darlington, but here's the short version: A few weeks ago, on the Wednesday night before Florida was to play Tennessee, a sworn complaint was issued against several members of Pi Kappa Phi for an altercation in which they allegedly jumped three UF football players and broke the nose of offensive lineman Steve Rissler. The following evening some UF football players gathered in front of the fraternity house, perhaps looking for revenge. A rumble seemed possible. Somebody called police and word quickly spread to the UF athletic department. Athletics Director Jeremy Foley contacted Zook and told him to go get his players. "Coach Zook went there for the right reasons," Foley said Tuesday. "He went there to get his players out of there and prevent an altercation. And he accomplished that." Foley, however, admitted that Zook's methods were "unacceptable" and said he has dealt with the issue "internally." He then acknowledged that sometimes an individual's "biggest strengths are also your biggest weaknesses." He was talking about Zook's passion and penchant for defending his players. That's fine. One of Zook's endearing qualities is he's a regular blue-collar guy who doesn't hide his emotions. But when you're the football coach at Florida, you can't always be a regular blue-collar guy. Sometimes you have to be the professional PR guy. Especially when your name is Ron Zook, and frothing-at-the-mouth fans are upset and looking for any reason possible to barbecue you. Don't look now, but Zook has just supplied a month's worth of fun and fodder for the message-board miserable. Is it just coincidence that this month-old story leaked from fraternity row now -- just a few days after the devastating home loss to LSU? Most frat boys are the sons of big boosters, and big boosters are no doubt disgruntled about Florida's 3-2 record and yet another home loss. "This whole thing has become a story because we lost Saturday," Zook said. "This is another opportunity for people to pile on and try to put another nail in the coffin. . . . I was trying to do the right thing at that frat house. There was no confrontation. I was trying to stop a confrontation from happening. "Maybe I shouldn't have said some of things I said, but I'm emotional sometimes and I was mad at my players for being at the fraternity house in the first place." And there you have the most troubling part of this whole story: Not that Zook was there, but his players were. Can you believe it? Zook actually told his players on that Thursday to stay away from the fraternity house, and they ignored his warning. With high-profile players like Channing Crowder getting into legal trouble during the offseason, Zook said he continually lectures players to avoid altercations at all cost. So what do these players do? Two days before the biggest game of the year against Tennessee, they go to a frat house looking for trouble. Dumb Kappa Dumb. Mike Bianchi can be reached at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com. Copyright © 2004, Orlando Sentinel -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Questions or comments? | Paid archives | Start a newspaper subscription | How to advertise | Privacy policy Copyright 2004, Sun-Sentinel Co. & South Florida Interactive, Inc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthLink02 8 Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 Well as stupid as that sounds....it sure would have been quite funny to watch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sportwareagle 0 Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 That would have been really funny. Zook is not very smart! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supatigah 0 Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 This is the direct result of taking a man who should be a career assistant and making him a head coach at a pressure cooker like Florida. Zook had the chance to be a bigtime D-1 head coach when Superior made him the DC. When Superior demoted him to special teams coach that should have been the end of Zook as a candidate for HBC. Then he gets a second chance at a job that he clearly does not have the goods for. Foley made a calculated risk that has blown up in his face. How long does he let it go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMoJo 0 Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 If we play Florida in the SEC Champ game, maybe we all ought to wear orange and blue Phi Kappa Phi frat T shirts. Zook would be so mad he couldn't think (maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea after all) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadillacattack 0 Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 Everybody knows that Zook had a raw deal before the season even began. But with all the additional problems he's had to deal with - like bailing star players out of jail - why bring trouble on himself? Zook is starting to crack under the pressure........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny AU-92 0 Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 Attention all conspiracy theorists!!! This happened back in September and it is JUST NOW making headlines? Can you say "He lost two big games, so now we have to make the publicity to get his butt outta here?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUesquire 1 Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 Ooooohhh. :huh: Good point Jenny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebdawg 5 Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 I understand the story was leaked by the AD office according to local sports talk. Hmmm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny AU-92 0 Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 Any minute now, the AD will come out with the Kiss of Death Statement, that Zook has his full confidence and support... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthLink02 8 Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 "Zook's job is very safe. There was no fight. Spurrier's name is not even being considered." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.