As New Year's Day approaches and the Gators date with Michigan looms, Ron Zook's first season at the helm nears completion. Along the way, Gators have been dismayed over the huge falloff from the fun and gun, a couple of humbling losses, lousy pass protection and the collapse on special teams. When all is said and done the Gators are finishing about where most pronosticators and many Gator fans expected they would. While expectations as well as the program's potential at Florida are much higher there are a number of things Zook did right. Won the SEC's Big Three: wins over Auburn, Georgia and Tennessee usually are the key to the SEC East Crown. Irrespective of how it may have worked out Zook agressively went out and hired high profile offensive and defensive coordinators. Zaunbrecher was considered one of the top offensive minds in the south. Ditto for Thompson. Judgment on Zaunbrecher will finally be passed next season when the Oline has had a chance to reach maturity. Thompson implemented an innovative attacking system that will survive he and Charlie Strong's departures. Reemphasis on balanced offense. The results won't show that much improvement but I like what the Gators did in terms of trying to attack a bit more in its run blocking. Afterall, Rome wasn't built in a day. Lets see what happens next year when some of our hot shot rookie running backs get into the mix. Reemphasis on recruiting. Zook is the guy who coined the phrase its not about the x's and o's its about the Jesses and Joes (or something near to that). Whether or not Zook will outproduce Spurrier's staff in recruiting talent remains to be seen few can argue the increased emphasis placed on recruiting by this staff. Virtually every member on the new staff carries a strong recruiting reputation along with strong ties to some critical area. Zook's visits to all or most of Florida's High Schools did not go unnoticed by high school coaches and our rivals alike. Turn your head for a second and Coach Zook and his staff will be on the road out recruting. Like Billy Donovan, Zook and his staff seek to outhustle its opposition to win players. Zook appears to be doing all he can to make good on his promise to recruit the state of Florida in a way that it has never been recruited before. The bottom line is that the Gators aren't going to regain status as the top program in this state no matter who is coaching until we secure superior talent on both sides of the line of scrimmage. By all accounts, Zook and his staff have earned high marks for their recruiting work ethic and is doing everything in his power to accomplish that. Return as a player in south Florida recruiting wars. Nat Moore has point blank stated that whoever wins the recruiting battles in Dade will ultimately win the state recruiting wars. Rehiring Red Anderson announced that the Gators are no longer going to just concede Broward, Dade and Palm Beach County's football players to the Canes and Seminoles. Last year's class included nearly as many Dade County players as Spurrier got in over a decade including signings from Miami's backyard like the powerhouse Northwestern and Southridge programs. The early commitments from Morreira and Stephenson were two other coups in Miami's backyard. Seeking out all sources of talent and making inroads into nontraditional sources. Philisophically Coach Spurrier did not like to recruit Jucos. Coach Spurrier stopped recruiting Texas when he lost too many battles there and the few players he got there did not pan out. Coach Spurrier did the same thing in the state Alabama. Coach Spurrier's staff largely limited its recruiting to the southeast and prefered to invest his energies in areas where he believed he would give the greatest likely return on his energies. Zook attacked the Gators shortcomings on the Offensive line by bringing in 3 early signings along with a stud tight end and desperately needed defensive tackle. Florida is chasing a number of top players in Texas and is making at a run at a player or two from Alabama. Gator recruiting also appears to have stretched out a bit more outside of the south into Michigan, California and Ohio. Filling out the roster. Too often in the past has Florida carried 80 or less players on scholarship. Coach Zook wisely added a couple of developmental defensive lineman after last signing day together with the early signing jucos. Taking a more active role in keeping players in the program for 4 or 5 years. I like how Zook has handled the Rex Grossman situation. Zook has made Rex know he is definitely wanted. He hasn't shied away from letting Rex know that there is a real benefit to returning another season. Zook probably takes tons of blame for things that aren't really his fault. So I'll give Zook credit for the fact that it appears that Rex is the only player likely to leave early. Zook is more involved with his players and has emphasized a family atmosphere not just among coaches but among teamates. Summer practices saw players housed together at University Hotel. Zook is accessible to his players and by all accounts personally liked by his players. Coach Zook is just as likely to pat a player on the back as he is to criticize him. Those kinds of things factor a lot more heavily when it comes time to decide whether a player wants to come back for a senior season. What else will actually work in a program's favor in its efforts to keep guys around? Coach Zook has overcome a lot this year. He's been crucified by Gator fans as well as the Gator's enemies and rivals. He's lost his father only a few months ago and yet, he keeps chugging along and is sure to greet everyone with a warm word as he continues in the Gator tradition of trying to win the right way. As Coach Zook has said, "attitude is everything." So for all of my negative rantings and ravings throughout your first year, I figured I'd take time out to Coach Zook for all his hard work and for the good things he has done so far and hopefully, for all his future successes.