Coach Zook entered his third year of rebuilding the Illinois football program with a recruiting class ranked nationally for the second-straight year. In 2006 his team led the Big 10 in rushing; defensively, it shaved off more than 100 rushing yards per game from 2005 totals. Zook has coached on five SEC championship teams (four at Florida, one at Tennessee), and has participated in 15 bowl games (three as player, 12 as coach). Zook has also coached three NFL franchises (Pittsburgh, Kansas City and New Orleans).
Coach Ron Zook continued the charitable legacy that helped him earn the award in 2007. In addition to the $20,000 grant that the University of Illinois Alumni Association received on his behalf, Coach Zook selected Crisis Nursery of Urbana, Fellowship of Christian Athletes – University of Illinois Chapter, Cunningham Children’s Home in Urbana, the United Way of Champaign County, and Restoration Urban Ministries of Champaign-Urbana to receive $10,000 each.
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