Second chance

O'Leary returns to college football as UCF head coach

George O'Leary still plans to finish the season with the Vikings. AP

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- George O'Leary is returning to college football as the coach at Central Florida, a program battered this season by disciplinary problems off the field.

Forced to resign at Notre Dame two years ago because he falsified his resume, O'Leary said he chose to take the job at Central Florida because he saw the opportunity to build a program with a national reputation. He had been defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings for the past two seasons.

"I see the University of Central Florida as a sleeping giant," O'Leary said at a news conference.

O'Leary acknowledged his past, saying he was ready to move on from the disclosure two years ago that he had lied in his personal biography about having earned a master's degree and received three letters playing football at New Hampshire. He resigned less than a week after being hired in 2001 to lead the Fighting Irish, one of the most storied college football programs.

"I made a terrible, terrible mistake as a youngster and I paid a dear price for it," he said. "I'm truly sorry for that ... My past is my past."

Central Florida fired coach Mike Kruczek late in the season, and he was replaced on an interim basis by Alan Gooch on Nov. 10.

University of Central Florida President John Hitt said a thorough background check was performed on O'Leary involving third-party interviews, and he was confident he was making the right decision in hiring him.

"I think he deserves another chance," Hitt said. "How he handles that chance, of course, we'll all be watching to see."

O'Leary, the former Georgia Tech coach, wasn't out of work long after his brief stay at Notre Dame. After leaving in mid-December 2001 -- just five days into the job -- O'Leary was hired by Vikings coach Mike Tice less than a month later.

At Georgia Tech, O'Leary had a 52-33 record from 1994 through 2001.

UCF athletic director Steve Orsini, Georgia Tech's senior associate athletic director during O'Leary's tenure there, called O'Leary the best coach available for the job.

"This is the man who will take the football program ... to national prominence," Orsini said.

O'Leary was signed to a five-year contract that will pay a base salary of $200,000 each year, Orsini said. But two published reports said O'Leary's contract could be worth as much as $700,000 annually. Orsini said confidentiality provisions in the contract prevented him from speaking about extra compensation.

That financial package would be far more than what UCF has paid in the past to its football coach. Kruczek was making $185,000 a year.

O'Leary assured Tice he would finish the season with the Vikings and not disrupt the team's weekly preparations. Minnesota leads the NFC North with an 8-5 record.

"George is a grown man," Tice said. "He's not going to be a distraction."

O'Leary is taking over a UCF program battered by losses on the field and discipline problems off the field.

Although the Golden Knights were expected to contend in the Mid-American Conference's East Division, their 3-9 record was their worst since 1984. Coincidentally, that was the last year the program lost a coach during the season.

UCF has been competing at the Division I-A level for eight years, and the 2002 season was its first as a member of a conference after 23 as an independent.

The Knights had eight players, including four starters, suspended this season for various infractions.

Bill Callarman, a business management professor who is UCF's faculty representative to the NCAA, said several faculty members were worried about the message O'Leary's hiring sent to the troubled program.

"How we can hire someone who lied on a resume?" Callarman said, reciting the concerns raised by some faculty members. "The critical response is ... a person who truly made a mistake and is truly sorry about that mistake is often the best person to be witness to others to 'Don't do what I did."'