George O'Leary
George Joseph O'Leary (born August 17, 1946) is a former American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets from 1994 to 2001 and the UCF Knights from 2004 to 2015. He was famously hired in 2001 to be the head coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish but resigned after five days for lying on his resume. O'Leary was an assistant coach for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL) from 2002 to 2004, and an assistant coach for the Syracuse Orange and San Diego Chargers.
O'Leary in 2007 pictured during UCF's home opener | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 17, 1946 New York, New York, U.S. |
| Alma mater | New Hampshire |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1968–1974 | Central Islip HS (NY) (AHC) |
| 1975–1976 | Central Islip HS (NY) |
| 1977–1979 | Liverpool HS (NY) |
| 1980–1984 | Syracuse (AHC/DL) |
| 1985–1986 | Syracuse (DC/DL) |
| 1987–1991 | Georgia Tech (DC/DL) |
| 1992–1993 | San Diego Chargers (DL) |
| 1994 | Georgia Tech (DC/DL) |
| 1994 | Georgia Tech (interim HC) |
| 1995–2001 | Georgia Tech |
| 2002 | Minnesota Vikings (AHC/DL) |
| 2003 | Minnesota Vikings (DC) |
| 2004–2015 | UCF |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 2015 | UCF (interim AD) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 133–101 |
| Bowls | 5–6 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 1 ACC (1998) 2 C-USA (2007, 2010) 2 AAC (2013, 2014) 4 C-USA East Division (2005, 2007, 2010, 2012) | |
| Awards | |
| Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award (2000) 2× ACC Coach of the Year (1998, 2000) 3× C-USA Coach of the Year (2005, 2007, 2010) AAC Coach of the Year (2013) AFCA Region I Coach of the Year (1998) | |
During his twelve-year tenure with the Knights, O'Leary guided the team to the fourth-best turnaround in NCAA history (2005), and led UCF to one of the biggest upsets of the BCS era in the 2014 Fiesta Bowl. Following an 0–8 start to the 2015 season, O'Leary resigned as UCF's head coach.