UCF coach George O’Leary is stepping down as UCF’s interim athletic director, ESPN and the Orlando Sentinel report.
George O’Leary will step down as athletic director at UCF, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com reports. The Orlando Sentinel confirmed the report, stating O’Leary will announce his decision to resign from his dual role this week.
O’Leary has come under unusual fire this year because he took the dual role on before the season. His team is out to an 0-6 start and everyone has simply assumed both jobs had become too much for O’Leary to take on. It was suspected it might be too much for the 69-year-old coach. Many believe O’Leary is close to retiring as a football coach himself and expected him to start grooming a successor.
The performance on the field so far this year has not brought out a lot of confidence or faith that he can manage the job.
O’Leary has told the Orlando Sentinel before he was not overwhelmed by managing both jobs. It consisted of meeting with deputy athletic directors for some time to discuss athletic department issues and delegating tasks so he can go back to coaching the football team. It seemed like he was managing both well.
The results on the field may suggest otherwise. Or they may be completely unrelated.
What is clear now is O’Leary has decided to focus on different things or put his focus more on his football team rather than the task of managing a major athletic department.
UCF has hired a national search organization to hire a replacement for Todd Stansbury, who left for Oregon State. O’Leary was always the interim athletic director, he was never a permanent solution for the athletic department.
Whether this means the Knights will win a game and avoid a winless season, that is up to a few more factors.
