George O’Leary Head Coach - Eighth Season with the Knights In his seven years at UCF, George O’Leary has helped the Knights achieve dozens of historic firsts including games in front of sellout crowds on campus, individual accolades for student-athletes, two conference championships and trips to pres gious bowl games. For O’Leary, it has been business as usual. Since taking over the program in 2004, O’Leary has made sure that UCF has reached new heights. On and off of the field, the veteran head coach has molded his program into a consistent winner. His hard work contributed to the construc on of Bright House Networks Stadium. Interest in the program has never been higher. His student-athletes are enjoying record success in the classroom, and the Knights are winning on the football field. O’Leary guided the 2010 Knights to the school’s first 11-win season, the Conference USA Championship and an AutoZone Liberty Bowl win over Georgia. The Knights earned their first-ever na onal rankings in 2010, finishing the year at No. 20 in the coaches poll, and O’Leary was rewarded with the C-USA Coach of the Year award as voted on by his peers for the third me in six years. For the college football world, the season was more evidence that O’Leary has built the Knights into a powerful program. The 2010 season surpassed even the 2007 year when O’Leary guided the Knights to what was then arguably the finest campaign in program history. UCF won 10 contests that season, claimed the C-USA Championship and par cipated in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl where UCF fans helped set the bowl’s all- me a endance record. There was li le suspense as to who would garner C-USA Coach of the Year honors that year either. For the Knights and their fans, 2007 was truly a year to remember. And just two years later, O’Leary and the Knights put together an impressive run at the end of the 2009 season to earn a bid to the St. Petersburg Bowl. UCF went 5-1 down the stretch and won six-straight C-USA contests to close out the regular season. That included the Knights’ first win in school history over a na onallyranked Football Bowl Subdivision program when they upset No. 13/12 Houston, 37-32, on Homecoming.
Helping UCF Arrive on the Na onal Scene O’Leary has already le his stamp on the Knights’ program. When he arrived in Orlando in 2004, UCF was not a factor on the regional or na onal scenes. O’Leary rebuilt the program from the ground up. He lobbied for new facili es,
THE O’LEARY FILE Born: Aug. 17, 1946 Hometown: Central Islip, N.Y. College Educa on: New Hampshire, 1969 (B.S. in physical educa on) Coaching Experience: Head coach - UCF, 2004-Present Defensive coordinator - Minnesota Vikings, 2003 Assistant head coach/defensive line - Minnesota Vikings, 2002 Head coach - Georgia Tech, 1995-01 Interim head coach/defensive coordinator/defensive line Georgia Tech, 1994 Defensive Line - San Diego Chargers, 1992-93 Defensive coordinator/defensive line - Georgia Tech, 1987-91 Assistant head coach/defensive line - Syracuse, 1985-86 Defensive line - Syracuse, 1980-84 Head coach - Liverpool (N.Y.) High School, 1977-79 Head coach - Central Islip (N.Y.) High School, 1975-76 Assistant head coach - Central Islip (N.Y.) High School, 1968-74 14
2011 UCF Football Yearbook
O’Leary’s Honors
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2010 - Conference USA Coach of the Year 2007 - Conference USA Coach of the Year 2007 - Atlanta Touchdown Club Conference USA Coach of the Year 2005 - Conference USA Coach of the Year 2005 - CBSSports.com Na onal Coach of the Year 2005 - SportsIllustrated.com Na onal Coach of the Year 2005 - Eddie Robinson Na onal Coach of the Year finalist 2005 - Paul “Bear” Bryant Na onal Coach of the Year finalist 2000 - Bobby Dodd Na onal Coach of the Year 2000 - Atlan c Coast Conference Coach of the Year 1998 - Atlan c Coast Conference Coach of the Year 1998 - AFCA Region I Coach of the Year 1998 - Eddie Robinson Na onal Coach of the Year finalist
toured the state to gain publicity, restocked UCF with top recruits and made sure his student-athletes excelled in their studies. The growth of the program was no more evident than in 2007. UCF posted a school-record seven-game winning streak during the season. The conference championship was the first in program history. The 10 wins during the year established a program record at the FBS level which UCF would eclipse in 2010. O’Leary helped tailback Kevin Smith post one of the most dominant single-season rushing performances. The junior rushed for 2,567 yards, good for second all- me in NCAA history, and 29 touchdowns in 2007. He became the only rusher in the state of Florida and the 12th all- me in the NCAA FBS to eclipse the 2,000-yard mark in a season. The 2008 season saw Joe Burne also earn first-team All-America honors as he sha ered the school and C-USA punt return records and graduated ranked 19th in NCAA history in career punt return yards. In 2009, Josh Robinson was a first-team freshman All-American and Bruce Miller won the first of two consecu ve C-USA Defensive Player of the Year awards. In addi on to Miller, Jeff Godfrey was named the 2010 C-USA Freshman of the Year and a school-record five Knights made the All-C-USA First Team during the memorable 2010 campaign.
Excellence off the Field O’Leary has reshaped the UCF program in every facet, including improved results in the classroom. The Knights turned in a successful effort in the classroom during the 2008 campaign, registering the highest in-season grade-point average in program history at 2.782. A total of 55 student-athletes recorded a GPA of least 3.0 during the fall 2008 semester. Defensive lineman Keith Shologan became the first player in school history to receive ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America First Team honors in 2007. Rocky Ross picked up Academic All-America honors in 2009. Ross, Shologan, Sha’reff Rashad and Josh Linam have been selected to the C-USA Football All-Academic Team under O’Leary. T.J. Harnden received UCF’s highest honor, the Order of Pegasus, in 2009. In 2008, Rashad was named to the league all-academic squad for the second-consecu ve year. In 2007, he was named the UCF Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year, becoming the second-straight football player to earn the honor. Rashad was twice named to the Na onal Football Founda on and College Hall of Fame’s Hampshire Honors Society. Offensive lineman Dan Veenstra was the award winner in 2006.
Guiding the Knights Toward Prominence The 2006 season featured several memorable moments for the Knights as they finished their final campaign at the Florida Citrus Bowl. Wide receiver Mike SimsWalker had a record-breaking season. The Orlando na ve broke the single-season