WEST LAFAYETTE, IND. - Illinois coach Ron Zook will be retained for the 2010 season, athletics director Ron Guenther said Saturday, ending speculation about the fifth-year coach's future amid a 1-6 start.

If that decision stands, the university will avoid paying at least $4.24 million to buy out the remaining four years of Zook's contract.

But in divulging his intent, Guenther indicated that others on the coaching staff might not be safe.

"There will be changes but there won't be a change on the top," he said. "There's a great deal of frustration obviously within the program at the moment. We're still going to evaluate (after the season), but I think it's unfair to start jumping at the end of the fifth year on the guy."

Illinois lost 24-14 at Purdue on Saturday, leaving Zook with a 19-36 record at the school and on his way to a fourth losing campaign with one more defeat.

He is paid $1.5 million annually and had his contract extended by one year through Jan. 31, 2014 during the summer.

"I'm not worried about me, I'm worried about this team,'' Zook said. "They're going to do what they're going to do. It's a profession. I appreciate it, obviously. Ron Guenther is the best thing about this job because he understands. But I understand he has a job to do. We're going to get this thing the way it's supposed to be."

Guenther did not take questions or indicate the reasons behind his decision.

If Zook were to be fired, the school would owe him $1.06 million for each of his remaining years, according to details of his contract, and possibly $600,000 in deferred compensation, which has accumulated in two accounts.

Paul Holmes, an assistant professor of economics at Illinois until 2008, has written about the firing of college football coaches and said before the announcement he found it "tough to imagine'' Illinois opting for a buyout.

"The athletic program is not insulated from political pressure,'' he wrote in an e-mail interview. "I think it would be hard to justify spending $4.5 million to buy out Zook's contract in the current political climate at Illinois. It would be further bad publicity for a university struggling to accent the good. The July contract extension made it harder both politically and financially to take any action.''

Zook received a $1.8 million buyout from Florida after he was fired in the middle of the 2004 season, according to published reports.

By keeping Zook, Illinois would also avoid paying four assistant coaches $344,600 for their buyouts, which call for a lump sum payment equal to 50 percent of their salaries if Zook is fired.