George Joseph O'Leary (born August 17, 1946) is a former American football coach and college athletics administrator.

He was famously hired in 2001 to be the head coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish but resigned after five days for lying on his resume.

During his twelve-year tenure with the Knights, O'Leary guided the team to the fourth-best turnaround in NCAA history (2005), and led UCF to one of the biggest upsets of the BCS era in the 2014 Fiesta Bowl.

After two off years, O'Leary rebuilt the program into a consistent winner, leading the team to a victory in the 1997 Carquest Bowl in Miami.

During his seven-year stint at Georgia Tech, O'Leary guided the Yellow Jackets to a 52–33 (.612) record, including five bowl appearances.

O'Leary's Georgia Tech teams won at least seven games four times during his tenure, including a 10-win season in 1998 and a nine-win campaign in 2000.

[7] These infractions were due to the deficiencies in the school's academic administration who had incorrectly accounted for student-athletes' credit hours and were not attributed to O'Leary or his staff.

The initial requirement that Georgia Tech vacate the performances of the football team for games in which these ineligible players participated was overturned on appeal.

[9] When this came to light, O'Leary offered his immediate resignation, which Notre Dame athletic director Kevin White turned down, but then asked if there were any other inaccuracies.

[10] He then admitted that he had not earned a master's degree from "NYU-Stony Brook University": this was a non-existent institution named after two separate schools over 50 miles apart.

[10] O'Leary said in a statement released that day, "Due to a selfish and thoughtless act many years ago, I have personally embarrassed Notre Dame, its alumni and fans.

The team would then go on to play in the Hawaii Bowl, barely losing to Nevada after UCF kicker Matt Prater missed an extra point in overtime.

On September 15, 2007, it opened its 45,000 seat on-campus football facility, Bright House Networks Stadium with a 3-point loss to the Texas Longhorns on ESPN.

They also alleged that O'Leary and other coaches had initially warned players against providing assistance to Plancher when he became visibly distressed.

[16] The award was subsequently reduced to $200,000 by the Fifth District Court of Appeals, which ruled that the UCF Athletics Association is subject to sovereign immunity under Florida law.

The losing season, in conjunction with the controversy surrounding the death of Ereck Plancher, led many to question whether O'Leary's tenure at UCF was coming to a close.

[20] UCF finished the 2010 regular season with a 10–3 record, after winning the Conference USA Championship over the SMU Mustangs, 17–7, and earning the Knights' second invitation to the Liberty Bowl.

[21] He then led the Knights to a 10–6 Liberty Bowl victory over the SEC's Georgia Bulldogs and final rankings of 20 and 21 in the Coaches and AP Polls, respectively.

Following an investigation into recruiting violations in the men's basketball and football programs in 2011, on July 31, 2012, the NCAA announced sanctions – in addition to penalties UCF had already self-imposed.

[27] Following the homecoming upset of the Cardinals, UCF won contests against UConn and Houston, and earned their first Top–15 ranking in school history.

[29] The following season O'Leary signed a four-year contract extension and UCF again won the American Athletic Conference, this time sharing the title with Cincinnati and Memphis.

After beginning the 2015 season with an 0–8 record and briefly taking on the role of interim athletic director of the university, O'Leary resigned as UCF's head coach.

[30][31][32] After O'Leary's arrival, UCF posted its top two fall semester team grade point averages.