Not many people expected George O’Leary to last 12 years when he signed on as head football coach at UCF in 2004, but not only did the now-69-year-old last, he found success. His resignation came as little surprise after the Knights lost their eighth straight game last week, bringing them to 0-8 on the season and after he resigned his post as interim athletics director two weeks earlier.
O’Leary guided the Knights to 81 wins over 11-plus seasons and successfully eliminated most memories of his botched stop in Notre Dame in 2001. He led the program to four 10-plus-win seasons and a victory in the 2014 Fiesta Bowl. He was interviewed by Adam Shadoff of FOX 35 and, unsurprisingly, became very emotional when discussing former players and the program’s outstanding graduation rate.
