ESPN.com - No. 6: Florida

ESPN.com: ESPNMagazine

Tuesday, August 20, 2002
Updated: August 22, 2:05 PM ET
No. 6: Florida

By By Gene Wojciechowski

Pressure? What pressure? All Ron Zook has to do is replace living legend Steve Spurrier, pacify spoiled Gator fans and thrive despite a schedule that includes national champion Miami, SEC champion LSU, SEC runner-up Tennessee, on-the-rise Georgia, better-than-you-think Auburn and national title hopeful Florida State.

And he has to do it with zero head coaching experience -- and without even being AD Jeremy Foley's first choice to replace The Ballcoach. When Mike Shanahan stayed in Denver and Bob Stoops wouldn't budge from Norman, Foley decided to take a medium-size flyer on a guy whose background emphasizes D more than O.


	Grossman has some unfinished business at Florida.

Zook immediately delivered the first payment on Foley's investment, convincing QB Rex Grossman and WR Taylor Jacobs to play on Saturdays rather than Sundays. And you have to figure he didn't do it by promising to run the ball 40 times a game.

Last year, the Gators aired the ball out on 59% of their plays. They still have big talent in key places -- QB, RB, WR, LB, D-line, secondary -- and, possibly, a bigger chip on their shoulder pads. They've just about had it with the Spurrier-was-a-football-god talk. "I hear a lot of those kids are aching to prove they're good players, that it wasn't just Spurrier," says an opposing SEC coach. "But because of him, they carried a swagger. Talent? Sure. But without him & well, we'll have to wait and see."

HOT WIRE

Ed Zaunbrecher was at Florida last season -- to witness his Marshall offense get stuffed. Now he moves from the Thundering Herd, where he helped turn QB Byron Leftwich into a Heisman candidate, to become Florida's first offensive coordinator since 1990, Spurrier's first season. In Grossman, Jacobs and RB Earnest Graham, the new OC has a solid base to build on. Good thing. The bar he inherits is set pretty high.

TRIP WIRE

In a 15-day span in September, the Gators host a motivated Miami team and then go to Knoxville. Zook's not likely to get a lot of slack from the Florida faithful, so a fast start is imperative. Otherwise, somebody'll come up with a tune for the lyrics, "That's not the way Steve would have done it."

WIRE TAP

"They'll still be able to throw the football. That's what Zaunbrecher built his career around. If they are going to be successful, it all depends on how they do up front. Can the offensive line protect the quarterback, protect the ball? You want to stop their running game and make them throw the ball. If you keep them one-dimensional, you've got a chance to beat them."

BRISTOL WIRE

Kirk Herbstreit: "As the Ron Zook era begins, the challenge is developing receivers that give Grossman a chance to equal last year's numbers. The Gators are fired up to prove they can win without Spurrier."

The ESPN Power 16
1	Oklahoma	9	Colorado
2	Florida State	10	Washington State
3	Miami	11	Washington
4	Texas	12	Oregon
5	Tennessee	13	Nebraska
6	Florida	14	Michigan State
7	Georgia	15	Virginia Tech
8	Ohio State	16	LSU

This article appears in the September 2 issue of ESPN The Magazine.

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