Following a six-game losing streak to end the season, Ron Zook is no longer the head football coach at Illinois.  Illinois athletic director Mike Thomas made that decision on Sunday, one day after the Fighting Illini finished a 6-and-6 campaign after opening the season with six straight wins.  Thomas gave Zook some credit, saying the program is in better shape than when he took over seven years ago, but losses to Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan and Wisconsin led to his demise.  During his tenure, Illinois went 34-and-51 with just two winning seasons, including a 9-and-4 record in 2007 that ended in a Rose Bowl appearance.  Defensive coordinator Vic Koenning was named interim head coach while the search for a new coach gets underway.

Hours after he was fired as football coach at Illinois Ron Zook is thanking the university and his players for what he called "seven special years."

Zook says he thinks the Illini aren't far from being a good program and that they just failed to finish a few winnable games.

He spoke Sunday at a packed news conference.

Illinois opened this season 6-0 then finished it with six straight losses, including a 27-7 defeat at Minnesota on Saturday.

Zook is 34-51 at Illinois. He took the 2007 team to the Rose Bowl and lost to USC. Last season's squad beat Baylor in the Texas Bowl.

The Illini could still go to a bowl game. It would be their first back-to-back bowl appearances since 1991 and 1992.