Football coach whose resume lies cost him the Notre Dame job will take over at Central Florida.
By wire services
Published December 9, 2003
ORLANDO - George O'Leary gets tired of talking about his past, the falsified resume, the disgrace of resigning two years ago from a coveted job at Notre Dame.
So on the first day as the incoming football coach at Central Florida, O'Leary wanted to talk only about the future. But the past crept into the conversation.
"My past is very well-documented," O'Leary said at a news conference Monday, trying to head off the inevitable questions. "I can't do anything about setbacks except move on, and that's basically what I intend to do with this job. My past is my past."
O'Leary said he chose UCF because he saw a chance to take a program to the national level, and the school believes he deserves a second chance.
"I see the University of Central Florida as a sleeping giant," he said.
O'Leary was forced to resign at Notre Dame two years ago because he lied on his resume about having earned a master's degree and receiving three letters playing football at New Hampshire. He held the job for less than a week.
"I made a terrible, terrible mistake as a youngster, and I paid a dear price for it," O'Leary said. "I'm truly sorry for that."
UCF president John Hitt said he believes O'Leary deserves another chance.
"How he handles that chance, of course, we'll all be watching to see," Hitt said.
O'Leary has been the defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings for the past two seasons and said he will finish the season, which could include the playoffs. He coached Vikings coach Mike Tice at Central Islip High on Long Island during the mid 1970s.
O'Leary was coach at Georgia Tech from 1994-2001, going 52-33.
UCF signed him to a five-year contract with a base salary of $200,000 per year, according to UCF athletic director Steve Orsini, who was the senior associate athletic director at Georgia Tech during O'Leary's tenure.
But ESPN and the Orlando Sentinel reported the contract could be worth as much as $700,000 annually.
Orsini said confidentiality provisions in the contract prevent him from speaking about extra compensation.
That package would be far more than the $185,000 UCF paid its previous coach, Mike Kruczek.
O'Leary is taking over a program battered by losses and discipline problems. UCF fired Kruczek on Nov. 10 and replaced him on an interim basis with Alan Gooch.
O'Leary offered Gooch, an assistant at UCF for 21 years, a job on his staff, and he has until Wednesday to decide.
Although the Golden Knights were expected to contend in the MAC's East division, their 3-9 record was their worst since 1984.
The Knights had eight players, including four starters, suspended for various infractions.
