Six months after leading the Florida Gators to a National Championship, Chris Leak is adjusting to life far from the Florida sun.

Two months ago Leak, a four-year starter at quarterback, signed a free agent contract with the Chicago Bears. There he’ll fight for a spot on the Bears’ roster, where Rex Grossman, his predecessor in Gainesville, holds the starting spot.

Leak recently finished his first round of NFL minicamps, and stopped by Champaign this weekend to help his college coach, Ron Zook, recruit a new batch of college QBs.

Daily Illini: Let’s talk about your decision to sign with the Bears and how things have been going the past few months.

Chris Leak: A big part of my decision to be with the Chicago Bears was Coach Lovie Smith. He’s a great coach, one of the best in the history of the game, and that was one of the main things that sold me. Then, learning from a great quarterback like Rex Grossman, who I’m very familiar with from Florida, I’m just happy to be a Bear and happy to do what I can to help the team.

DI: Talk about Coach Zook and the roll he played in your recruiting process.

CL: Coach Zook was a huge part of me becoming a Gator. He’s a coach you can trust, he’s a hard worker. He works relentlessly, and that’s one of the things I’ve always loved about him. His relationship with players goes beyond football, and not a lot of players can say that.

Rex was also a big part of my recruitment. He helped me, just learning plays, watching film, getting used to playing SEC football.

DI: What is Zook like as a recruiter? How did he differ from everybody else who was going after you during that whole process?

CL: He’s just a genuine guy, and players can see that. You can see when a guy is genuine with you. He’s played, he’s coached at every level, and you can tell a that he’s a successful coach just by talking to him.

DI: What kind of edge does he have by coaching, like you said, at every level?

CL: Well his experience speaks for itself. He’s seen all the highs and lows of every situation possible, and that makes him a great recruiter and a person who can relate to players on all levels.

DI: How much did you keep in touch after he came to Illinois?

CL: Like I said, my relationship with Coach Zook went beyond football. We used to call each other up every time we had five minutes to spare.

DI: What’s your schedule look like for the rest of the summer?

CL: Right now, we had minicamps and right now we’re just in OTAs, going through workouts, trying to learn the playbook and get everything done so we can be ready for training camp, ready for preseason.

DI: Are you looking forward to Bourbonnais?

CL: Oh yeah, definitely. Any time you get to learn, get to play ball, it’s always an exciting time.

DI: I know its early in the transition, but how big of a jump is there going from a National Championship to the NFL?

CL: It’s just something you have to expect to go through. Going through the combine and playing in the senior bowl, those are things you just go through. It’s been a great ride, I’ve gotten to work with great coaches, and now I’m just trying to do my best.