What? The Illini just lost their quarterbacks coach?

"Head-scratcher" is right! I always wondered why the Illini ran (former quarterbacks coach) Zaunbrecher's offense with Mike Locksley leading the way as offensive coordinator. Very cumbersome organizational structure, don't you think?

I'm with Tupper: You don't want to lose assistant coaches to "lateral" positions - especially positions with conference foes. That just doesn't look good.

With Zook's "happy face" routine, I doubt we'll hear much more about this personnel development any time soon. I just hope that, going forward, we can find ways to keep assistants at Illinois longer than a year. We're becoming quite a "stepping stone" program - with a revolving door - where assistant coaches are concerned. That reputation will not serve Zook or Illinois well if it continues.

News that Ron Zook is losing his quarterbacks coach was a small scale stunner Thursday. Ed Zaunbrecher was at practice on Tuesday, standing in the rain while overseeing the work of five quarterbacks. Then on Thursday he was headed to Purdue to take a similar position on Joe Tiller’s staff.

First of all, the timing is lousy. Second of all, you don’t want to lose assistant coaches to “lateral” positions. Had he been named offensive coordinator, it’s easier to explain. But I use the word “lateral” loosely. Purdue’s offense, at least until last season, has been high octane and put the Boilermakers in a succession of bowl games. Illinois has struggled, although the struggles have been much more pronounced on defense.

Zaunbrecher departure a head-scratcher