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George O'Leary: UCF coach best known for brief Notre Dame stay

George O'Leary, best known for a brief stay at Notre Dame, and the UCF Knights host SMU on Saturday.

Douglas Jones-US PRESSWIRE

SMU is on the road Saturday to play Central Florida and head coach George O'Leary, who despite moderate success with the Knights since 2004 and success with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the late 1990's, is best known for a brief stint as head coach at Notre Dame.

O'Leary left Georgia Tech to take over the highest-profile coaching job in the country in 2001, only to resign a few days later after Notre Dame discovered inaccuracies on O'Leary's resume. Shamed, O'Leary left college football but found a job as defensive coordinator with then-head coach Mike Tice and the Minnesota Vikings.

After two successful years in the NFL, O'Leary left the Vikings to become the head coach at Central Florida. The Knights went a school-worst 0-11 in his first season. They joined Conference USA the next season and had one of the best turnarounds in the nation, going 8-3 and 7-1 in-conference.

Still with the Knights, O'Leary has a shot at a Conference USA title and bowl berth. The Knights can continue their big year on Saturday against the Mustangs. SMU and UCF play at 6 p.m. CT. The game can be seen on the CBS Sports Network.

Photographs by jamesbrandon, jdtornow, phlezk, flygraphix, mcdlttx, tomasland, and literalbarrage used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.