Happy 65th birthday today to former Illini football coach Ron Zook.
A product of Miami University's famed "Cradle of Coaches", he played for coach Bill Mallory's Redskins from 1973-75. During Zook's collegiate playing days, MU teams compiled a 32-1-1 record, winning three straight Mid-American Conference championships.
Zook began his coaching career the following year as a high school coach, then started a lengthy college stint in 1978 at Murray State. He then made stops as an assistant coach at Cincinnati, Kansas, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Ohio State and Florida. Zook secured NFL jobs with the Steelers, Chiefs and Saints before being named Florida's coach in 2002.