New UCF coach O'Leary expected to recover

George O'Leary had been juggling duties between the Vikings and Central Florida. Erik Perel/Getty Images

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Former Vikings defensive coordinator George O'Leary had an apparent heart attack Wednesday, three weeks after taking the head coaching job at Central Florida.

O'Leary, formerly head coach at Georgia Tech, was forced to resign as Notre Dame's football coach two years ago because he lied on his resume, was undergoing tests to confirm the heart attack.

The 57-year-old coach was expected to recover fully and should be released in the next few days, Vikings coach Mike Tice said.

"He'll be OK," Tice said.

O'Leary's hospitalization, first reported by the St. Paul Pioneer Press on its Web site, was in response to chest pains that developed at his home in the Twin Cities.

A spokeswoman at Fairview Southdale Hospital in Edina confirmed that O'Leary had been admitted, but would not give any details on his condition.

O'Leary was behind the improvement shown by the Vikings' defense this season. Despite ranking 23rd in the NFL in yards allowed, Minnesota led the NFC in interceptions with 28 and allowed an average of 14.5 points over its last four games.

Tice hired O'Leary to be his defensive line coach in 2002, and O'Leary was defensive coordinator this season.

O'Leary, who coached Tice at Central Islip High School on New York's Long Island, joined the Vikings about a month after resigning from his dream job at Notre Dame.

He was 52-35 in seven seasons at Georgia Tech before taking the Notre Dame job.