After a whirlwind tour of Illinois cities where he met with fans from around the state, Ron Zook is ready for a break. While Illinois football players are not required to return to campus until June 11, Zook and the Illini coaching staff have spent the month of May on the road, meeting with fans and continuing to recruit.

Last week Zook talked to the Daily Illini about what’s been happening at Memorial Stadium.

Daily Illini: Can you talk a little bit about what you guys are doing in the office day-to-day right now? I know the athletes aren’t required to be on campus now.

Ron Zook: No, in fact this is the one part of the year when we have the least contact with them. Now it’s the strength coach Lou Hernandez and his staff, Byron Cunningham the trainer, those guys spend time with them now. It’s the longest phase of the year.

We see them they come up in the office and everything, but we can’t be with them all the time, we can’t coach them,or anything like that.

We’re working on getting all the recruiting finalized. We were all out there for a month; we covered an awful lot of ground. Now we have to pare the list, pick out the guys we have a legitimate shot of recruiting and go get them.

DI: You guys don’t really have a lot of interaction with the players until Camp Rantoul starts in August, right?

RZ: Yes, the summer ball phase is when you really get a chance to get back out there and coach.

DI: Are you looking forward to some of the summer stuff with camps and everything?

RZ: Right now I’m looking forward to some time to catch my breath. Obviously camps are a big part of it – we’re able to do some evaluating. Right now, though, as a coaching staff, we need to get away and charge our batteries a little bit. We’re excited about where we’re at, excited about what we’ve accomplished. We’re not anywhere near where we need to be, but you can begin to see light at the end of the tunnel.

DI: How much are camps a part of the recruiting process?

RZ: Well, I don’t know if they’re quite as big a part as they used to be. Most everyone’s doing just day camps now. Instead of going to one camp for a week, they go to five camps, so you get more exposure. From that standpoint it’s a big part of recruiting. It gives you a chance to evaluate their movements, how they learn and how they take instruction, those kinds of things. And it gives them a chance to get to know you as well.