Buc's Gruden high on O'Leary

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Bucs: UCF lands gem in O'Leary
By Chris Harry | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted December 11, 2003

TAMPA -- In his preparation for the 2000 draft with the Oakland Raiders, Jon Gruden was studying tape of Georgia Tech quarterback Joe Hamilton when his focus turned from the player to the plays.

"I couldn't help but break down some of the routes they were running," Gruden said after his practice Wednesday with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. "I watched a little more, and I remember thinking, 'That's a helluva football team.'"

Through his recollection of those '99 Yellow Jackets -- Hamilton was the Heisman Trophy runner-up that season -- and through word of mouth in the coaching profession, Gruden came to the same conclusion about the man who coached that Georgia Tech team -- and who now coaches the UCF Golden Knights.

"The people that know George O'Leary know he's going to do a great job," Gruden said. "Central Florida is lucky to get him because he's good enough to coach anywhere in America."

As the Bucs (6-7) prepared for Sunday's home date against the Houston Texans (5-8), several team members with ties to O'Leary were pleased with Monday's announcement that UCF had lured O'Leary -- résumé baggage and all -- away from his post as defensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings.

Gruden has seen what O'Leary has done this season with the Vikings, who are in first place in the NFC North Division after going 6-10 last season. In O'Leary's first year as coordinator, Minnesota is tied for third in the NFL with a plus-10 giveaway-takeaway ratio, and Vikings safeties Corey Chavous and Brian Russell are ranked first and tied for second, respectively, in the league in interceptions.

"He's a big reason for the turnaround up there," Gruden said.

Bucs tight end Will Heller was not highly recruited out of Dunwoody (Ga.) High, but O'Leary promised Heller if he walked on at Tech and worked hard that a scholarship would be there for him the following season.

He did. It was.

"He was honest with me and kept his word," Heller said. "I'm happy he's back in college coaching, which is probably where he wants to be. I see where he called [UCF] a 'sleeping giant.'

"He sees the potential not only to turn things around there, but to go to another level. I'm rooting for him."

So are a couple of Tampa Bay teammates, offensive tackle Cornell Green and wide receiver Charles Lee, both of whom shined at UCF during the Daunte Culpepper glory days.

"I'm just glad they got rid of [Mike Kruczek]," Green said. "We need someone to get in there and get the program back where it was when we were there. This guy's a name that made national news. That's a good start."

UCF opened itself to criticism by hiring O'Leary, whose trumped-up résumé earned him national disgrace when he bolted Georgia Tech, where he was 35-14 his last four seasons, for Notre Dame in December 2001. When university officials learned of the falsifications on his résumé, O'Leary was forced to resign five days after taking the job.

Lee, who has emerged since the deactivation of Keyshawn Johnson by catching 16 passes for 190 yards and a touchdown, liked the fact that UCF gave O'Leary a second chance.

"Whatever happened with his situation at Notre Dame shouldn't matter now," Lee said. "He paid the price; now one man's loss is another's gain." Assistant strength and conditioning coach Mike Morris was a wide receiver at Syracuse in the early 1980s when O'Leary coached a defensive line that featured future NFL players Tim Green and Mike Charles.

"George was fiery, intense and a great motivator," Morris said. "Those kids will play for him, I promise you."