Zook Out, so Look Out for Him

It has been hours now since Florida fired Ron Zook and we ask: Why hasn’t Steve Spurrier been named coach yet?

You don’t need an advisor to know it’s time to bring back the Visor.

If out-of-work, seven-iron Steve wants to return to Florida -- and there are indications he might -- this deal should have been done yesterday.

And maybe it was.

You don’t fire Zook six days before Halloween and then say you’re not going to talk to any college coach under contract until the end of the season unless you think a coach not under contract is available.

Do you?

“If he wants the job, he’ll get the job,” former Auburn coach Terry Bowden, now a college football analyst, said this week of Spurrier.

Why wouldn’t Spurrier want it?

There were rumors that one reason Spurrier left to coach the Washington Redskins in 2002 was he did not get along with Athletic Director Jeremy Foley.

Spurrier has publicly debunked that theory and just might have a new appreciation for Foley after working for Redskin owner Daniel Snyder.

Besides, if he weren’t interested in returning to Florida, Spurrier could have said so already and ended speculation.

He hasn’t done so, which leads many to believe he is agonizing over a return, or has already decided to do it.

Why wouldn’t he want to?

Spurrier had his midlife crisis fling with the NFL, and it didn’t work out.

He has had a year to recharge his batteries and count his NFL money.

Would Spurrier really be foolish enough to put Florida on hold just to see if the Miami Dolphin job opens?

The problem when Spurrier left Florida was, he set the bar so high he couldn’t meet his expectations. His last Gator team finished 10-2 and beat Maryland in the Orange Bowl, yet it wasn’t enough because Florida didn’t win the national title or the Southeastern Conference championship.

Spurrier felt spent, empty, and ready to move on.

After two eight-win years under Zook and a 4-3 start this year, though, expectations have been altered.

“The worst thing that can happen is, it will go back to exactly where it was,” Bowden said.

And that was a string of 10-win seasons.

For all his shortcomings, Zook is a dogged recruiter and will leave Spurrier with plenty of talent.

So why shouldn’t he go back?

Florida needs Spurrier.

Spurrier needs Florida.

College football needs Spurrier.

His departure to the NFL was a blow across college football’s bow.

For all his prickliness, Spurrier was the best thing to happen to the sport since, well, Gatorade.

He transformed the SEC from cloud-of-dust to eat-my-dust. Spurrier rewrote the conference constitution with a fun-’n’-gun offense that forced other programs to change their philosophies or suffer the consequences.

Bowden says Spurrier had more impact on the SEC than any other coach since Alabama’s Bear Bryant.

Spurrier won six outright SEC titles in 12 years. Only Bryant, with 11, won more.

“Nobody had an answer for it,” said Bowden, who coached against Spurrier.

And his influence on opposing coaches?

“They either changed or they’re no longer coaching,” Bowden said.

Florida football wasn’t the same under Zook, but how could it be?

Once-classic rivalries, Florida-Tennessee and Florida-Florida State, fizzled without Spurrier there to sprinkle the open field with passes and the open wounds with salt.

No one got under Tennessee Coach Phil Fulmer’s skin the way Spurrier did, so much so that it motivated Tennessee to win the national title in 1998.

Fulmer on Wednesday called Spurrier “a great” coach and welcomed his possible return.

“I think it would be good for our conference, if that is the direction they decide to go,” Fulmer said.

Only Spurrier had the nerve to take on icon Bobby Bowden, Terry’s father and longtime coach at Florida State. Spurrier, before the 1997 Sugar Bowl, accused Florida State players of putting late hits on his quarterback, Danny Wuerffel.

Zook never had a chance of matching Spurrier’s spunk, but no SEC coach could.

“None of them create the buzz that Steve Spurrier has,” Terry Bowden said.

“And with my dad, people miss that Bowden-Spurrier rivalry that was so much fun. A couple more years of that won’t hurt either.”

If Spurrier wants the job, this Florida coaching search might just be a sideshow to appease the proponents of “due process.” The Black Coaches Assn., remember, is keeping score on minority hires and no one wants to get an F.

Enough already with the back channeling.

If Spurrier wants the job, draw up papers and let’s get this pass party restarted.

Don’t drag Florida through this. Don’t conduct a coaching search if you’ve already found your coach.

Come back, Steve, and bring your bag of barbs and ball plays.

Hurry-Up Offense

No. 20 Arizona State plays at No. 7 California on Saturday in a game that could determine a Rose Bowl berth. Should No. 1 USC end up playing in the Orange Bowl for the national title, the ASU-Cal winner figures to represent the Pacific 10 Conference in Pasadena if it finishes 10-1 and is ranked 12th or better in the final bowl championship series standings. Arizona State ranks 15th in the BCS this week but would no doubt move into the top 10 after a road victory.

There are complicating factors ... Should Utah earn an automatic bid by finishing sixth or higher in the BCS standings and Florida State earns an automatic bid by finishing third or fourth, the Rose Bowl will not be allowed to take Cal or Arizona State -- although we could imagine the Rose Bowl putting up a fight to keep its traditional Pac-10/Big Ten matchup.

Smart move: Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops has already put a stop to rumors he might be interested in the Florida job. “I want to make clear that I have no interest in the position that is currently available there,” he said in a statement.

Utah Coach Urban Meyer stopped answering his phone Monday after the double-whammy news broke that his Utes had moved to No. 6 in the BCS standings and Zook had been fired at Florida.

On the first front, a BCS ranking of sixth or better at season’s end will earn Utah an automatic bid to a BCS game. Meyer heard this message from his wife, Shelly, on his answering machine: “You’re No. 6 -- make sure you stay there.”

Meyer is considered a candidate for the Florida job because the school’s president, Bernie Machen, is the former president at Utah. It would cost another school only $250,000 to buy out Meyer’s Utah contract, pocket change for a big-time program.

Live-it-up-while-you-can department: Boston College improved to 5-2 after its fourth consecutive victory over Notre Dame and has a chance to win the Big East title this year and advance to a BCS game. It might be the last title Boston College wins. Next year, the Eagles move to a pumped-up ACC that includes Miami, Florida State and Virginia.

Why would Florida fire Zook now and allow him to coach out the season?

“They wanted to make sure nothing changed their minds,” Terry Bowden said.

By firing Zook now, he cannot save his job even if he beats rivals Georgia and Florida State.

Bowden, however, said it was a mistake to allow Zook to remain on the sidelines.

“They shouldn’t have given him a choice,” Bowden said.

“Once you fired him, you pretty much told the players and assistant coaches you’ve given up on the season.”

Bowden speaks from experience. After being called in and told privately he was going to be fired as Auburn’s coach at the end of the 1998 season, Bowden beat Auburn to the punch and quit after six games.

Compare and contrast: Florida gave Zook the hook after he went 20-13 in two-plus seasons. More than midway through his third season, Notre Dame Coach Tyrone Willingham has a record of ... 20-13.

You can usually measure the strength of the Pac-10 by the play of its quarterbacks, and this week seven Pac-10 quarterbacks rank among the top 50 in NCAA passing statistics.

Bureau of facts and figures: California leads the nation in offense at 508.33 yards a game and is ninth in defense, giving up 268.83. UCLA is 16th in offense and 108th in defense.

Texas A&M; leads the nation with only one turnover; Nebraska is last with 27.

The Western Athletic Conference has two teams ranked in the BCS top 25, Boise State at No. 13 and Texas El Paso at 24. The Big East has one -- West Virginia at No. 18. Under BCS rules, the Big East champion gets an automatic bid to a major bowl game. The WAC champion, possibly 11-0 Boise State, is probably destined for the MPC Computers Bowl.

And you wonder why people threaten to file lawsuits ...

After holding its first four opponents to 26 points, Miami has given up 69 points in its last two games.... No. 2 Oklahoma has a 75-16-7 record against No. 20 Oklahoma State, which should make the Sooners a lock to win Saturday when the schools meet in Stillwater, right? Wrong. Oklahoma State has won five of the last nine meetings.