Zook Eager to Return to Coaching With Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Two years away from the sideline was enough for Ron Zook.

The 30-year coaching veteran and former college head coach at Florida and Illinois is back in football as an assistant special teams coach for the Green Bay Packers.

Zook said he had other opportunities, but was looking for a situation where he was in it for the "right reasons." He says he loves the game and misses the relationships he developed with players.

Zook most recently was coach at Illinois, where he was fired after the 2011 season.

He worked with Packers coach Mike McCarthy when both were assistants with the New Orleans Saints more than a decade ago. Zook also coached special teams for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the late 1990s.