Ron Zook Should Be Back In 2010

That’s not my opinion so much as reality.

The last time we heard from Illinois Athletic Director Ron Guenther about the status of head coach Ron Zook was during halftime of the team’s loss against Purdue back on October 24th.  Guenther said that while there may be some changes made to the coaching staff, there will be none made at the top.

Well, for those wondering if maybe Guenther has changed his mind since seeing the Illini go 2-2 since that game, he hasn’t.  It seems that the school has told ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg that Guenther is sticking by what he said back in October, and that Zook will be back in Champaign next season.

This is not a surprise, as I’ve said all along that the University of Illinois has a lot more problems to solve right now regarding the school itself, so the idea of paying Ron Zook to not coach their football team is not at the top of their to-do list.  Of course, just because Zook will be back next season, he probably shouldn’t get too comfortable in Champaign.

After all, Guenther only has one more year left on his contract at Illinois, and if he’s let go odds are that the new AD will bring in his own football coach.

Especially when you consider that Zook’s biggest strength — recruiting — isn’t exactly strong right now.   The Illini only have eight commits in their 2010 class right now, which is headlined by four-star prospects QB Chandler Whitmer and DB Corey Cooper.  Still, they just lost their big get TE C.J. Fiedorowicz to the Iowa Hawkeyes last week, and their entire 2010 class is ranked 50th in the country by Rivals.

So a somewhat mediocre recruiting class combined with a tough schedule in 2010 — they get Cincinnati at home but have road trips to Penn State, Michigan State, Northwestern and Michigan — and the fact that Ron Zook is still the head coach likely means that next season won’t be all that much better than this one was.

That Rose Bowl trip seems like it was a long, long time ago.