...it's actually probably not worth that much, and probably nothing new, but here it is anyway. ZOOK: As one of Zook's most ardent supporters of the past few years, I agree with just about everyone here that his era has come to an end. There really doesn't seem to be a scenario, barring winning out with a run of blow-outs, in which Zook can save his job at this point. I hope that he and Foley can come to an exit agreement that will let this fine man save face and let the program start healing as soon as possible. That said, I think that Zook's hire was not a mistake. I'm not saying that he was an ideal replacement for SOS. Far from it. But nobody wanted to follow Spurrier, and Zook accepted the challenge with enthusiasm. He brought in a boatload of talent and, despite the W/L record, will leave the program in decent shape. Whoever follows him will start out with a bunch of talented upperclassmen, a luxury Zook never enjoyed. With lowered expectations and lots of veteran talent, a new coach will have a much better chance of success than Zook ever had. I have never seen such venom as was directed at this man for the past three years, and even now, he deserves better treatment from Gator fans. The "fans" who have been part of the "fireronzook.com" crowd from the beginning make me sick. He clearly couldn't get the job done, but I wonder if he might have done better if didn't have to spend so much energy combatting this barage of hate from people who claim to love the University of Florida. SPURRIER: I love SOS as much as anyone here, but I don't believe there's any chance that he will return as HBC. He left because it wasn't fun to be the HBC anymore. Expectations had gotten unrealistic. Gator fans were no longer satisfied with anything less than a 10-win season, and even that wasn't enough for many. We had been to the promised land, and nothing less was ever good enough. If he came back now, we would expect for things to be great again in no time. There's no telling if he would ever be able to take us back to the level of greatness we achieved in the mid-1990s, and there's very little likelihood it would happen soon enough to keep fans from bitching and moaning. The game has changed since 1996. Defenses figured out how to play against Spurrier's offenses. What was innovative then is commonplace now. SOS loved drawing up plays and calling them on game day. There was little else about being a college coach that he still enjoyed. He didn't like schmoozing with boosters. He didn't like recruiting. He didn't like dealing with the NCAA or the SEC or the refs. He didn't like the tedium of running the program day-to-day. If he returns to coaching college football at all, I could only see him taking on another program like Duke, where the rest of the nonsense didn't interfere with the stuff he loved doing. As much as I appreciate all he did for us, on some level, I still blame him for leaving us like he did. I am convinced he knew long before he announced his decision that it would be his last season. If he had at least spoken privately with Foley about this, things might be very different right now. FOLEY: Those calling for Jeremy Foley's head right now are either seriously deluded or just terribly ill-informed. Foley is widely recognized as the best AD in the country. Other schools use him as a model for what they want their ADs to do. We have been far more successful in the 12 years since he has been at the helm than in the entire history of the program before that. The UAA was deep in debt when he took over, and it is now one of the biggest money making athletic programs in the country. The athletic program at UF now subsidizes the academic program, not the other way around like it was here or like it still is most places. He has ensured that we have a top-notch program in all areas. We have been a leader in the Directors' Cup points for many years now, despite having only 18 sports compared with 21 or 22 at other top schools. Last year, 12 UF sports teams finished in the top 10. We have exceptional academic support and student life programs. We set new records all the time for the number of student-athletes making academic all-SEC or all-American. Coaches want to come to work for Foley, and when they're here, they want to stay here. Foley is THE reason Billy Donovan, Mary Wise, Tom Jones, Buddy Alexander, and other coaches are still here. Foley was not the reason Spurrier left, and when he left, Foley did what he could in the time allowed to hire the best coach available who was willing to follow Spurrier. If he had waited longer, nobody could've salvaged the recruiting year, and we could be in even worse shape now. He did the right thing then, and I trust that he will do the right thing now, as well.