BYU Football: Ranking Opposing Coaches for 2014

1. George O’Leary, UCF

O’Leary is the top coach BYU will face in 2014, but he’s also probably the coach with the most interesting story.  Many will remember him for his short stint at Notre Dame, where he was hired as the head coach and then resigned shortly after.  The reason for his forced resignation was that inaccuracies were found on his resume.  O’Leary claimed to have lettered at the University of New Hampshire and to have earned a Master’s Degree from a fictional university.

Aside from the debacle at Notre Dame, O’Leary has proven he can coach.  He won over 50 games at Georgia Tech before leaving for Notre Dame and has won over 70 games in his nine years  at UCF.  His win total with the Knights is especially impressive because the team went 0-11 in his first season in Orlando.  He was also the defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings in 2002 and 2003.  O’Leary’s coaching tree includes former BYU head coach, Gary Crowton, who was co-offensive coordinator for O’Leary at Georgia Tech.

Signature Win:  #5 Baylor, 2014

In a strange situation that found the winner of the American Athletic Conference receiving an automatic berth in a BCS bowl, the UCF Knights were extreme underdogs going up against Baylor in the 2014 Fiesta Bowl.  Though the Knights had Blake Bortles, many predicted Baylor would run away from UCF.  Bortles and the Knights took the lead in the first quarter and never looked back, winning the game 52-42.