It was the kind of life-altering news that causes Gators everywhere to remember where they were and what they were doing. Even Ron Zook knows in great detail his surroundings, his duties, as the information made it his way.

"Steve Spurrier is leaving Florida."

They are words that are still difficult to comprehend, even as Spurrier has embarked on his new life as head coach of the NFL's Washington Redskins, and Zook has taken his place as UF head coach.

	Ron Zook has the tough task of replacing Steve Spurrier.

Zook was defensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints on Jan. 5, the day word trickled to him on the practice field, where his unit was working on short-yardage situations. Yes, Zook remembers it very well. Didn't believe the news at first. Only after Saints head coach Jim Haslett told him that Spurrier had resigned did it begin to sink in.

Soon, Zook was contemplating the possibilities. A call came from Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley, who was already hot on the trail of Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops and Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan.

Zook, to the rest of the world, was not even on the radar.

Which makes his opening game Saturday against the University of Alabama-Birmingham all the more important. For Zook, never a head coach at any level, replacing the legend Spurrier, there is no honeymoon period.

Sure, UAB is a gimme to start the season. But unlike Spurrier, who would have welcomed a tussle or even a lackluster performance as a way of getting his players' attention, Zook can afford no such outing.

He needs a strong statement right from the opening kickoff, a game that shows he is in control of the operation. A strong defensive performance would be nice, seeing as that is his specialty. A little razzle-dazzle on offense wouldn't hurt, either, to show that Spurrier's forte has not been forgotten.

A nice, solid, blowout victory is what we're talking about.

Why? Because defending national champion and No. 1-ranked Miami visits a week later. SEC nemesis Tennessee awaits in three weeks. Georgia is down the road. So is Florida State.

In other words, there will be plenty of opportunities for Zook to deal with the naysayers. No point in starting early.

"It's kind of the nature of the beast,'' Zook said. "That's part of it. I'm sure some of the best have taken their shots. I've been in the heat of battle. I've been through some things where I've been the center of attention. As long as I know I'm doing all I can do and our players are doing all they can do, you can't get concerned about other things. I'm living in the moment, trying to do everything I can to day to make us the best football program we can be.''

And that is the challenge Zook faces. How do you make a program that is on top go even higher? Coaching changes are typically a time for renewal, a rough period replaced by the hope for prosperity. Zook has no such luxury. Although the Gators fell short of their goal of playing for a national championship last season, there were still 10 victories, including the Orange Bowl.

In fact, under Spurrier, the Gators dominated the SEC, winning six league titles and five league championship games. They won 87 games against SEC opponents, 11 more than Tennessee. Florida also won at least nine games during that period, and had a stretch of at least 10 victories from 1993-98.

"I was with Coach Spurrier five years, the second-longest coach I've been with,'' Zook said. "I learned a lot of football from Coach Spurrier. There's a lot of things that my personality won't allow me to be like Coach Spurrier. A lot of times I wish I could be like Coach Spurrier. I learned a lot of ways of dealing with things. Coach had his own way of doing things.''

No, there will be no easing into this job. Zook is a defensive coach replacing an offensive genius. He is a career assistant taking over one of the best programs in the country. And Gator fans remember him, fairly or not, as the defensive coordinator who could not live up to Spurrier's standards.

Florida fans would have welcomed Stoops or Shanahan, both with more successful Florida ties. Zook was defensive coordinator for a New Orleans Saints team last season that allowed 160 points in the final four games while in the playoff hunt. He is the same man Gator fans assailed during the early 1990s when Spurrier's offenses were lighting up the country, barely staying ahead of the defense. Zook's 1992 unit was the worst in the Spurrier era, yielding 22.8 points per game.

In fact, Spurrier actually demoted Zook, only to offer him his old job back a year later before Zook scampered out of town to the NFL in 1996, taking jobs as an assistant for three different teams.

Zook has 24 years of coaching experience, but not as a head coach. He immediately went to work and began the process of winning over skeptical Gators by convincing quarterback and Heisman Trophy runner-up Rex Grossman to stay. He did the same with top receiver Taylor Jacobs. Then he brought in offensive coordinator Ed Zaunbrecher, whose unit at Marshall last year averaged 505 yards of total offense, 305 passing.

Although his expertise is defense, Zook said, "I also know what causes defenses problems. I'm not three yards and a cloud of dust. I want to be wide open. I want to come after people, both defensively and offensively. I think I have a pretty good grip on what defenses don't like to see and what causes them problems.''

That was good news to Grossman, who has embraced Zook so far. He might even thrive without the constant hounding of Spurrier, who threatens to yank his quarterbacks with every misstep. "We're going to put the ball in the air and run the ball with a little bit more variety,'' Grossman said.

So far, all is well.

But the ball has not been kicked off yet.

Bob Harig covers college football for the St. Petersburg Times. He can be reached at harig@sptimes.com.