Though UCF fans are undoubtedly angry about this nosedive under George O’Leary, his decision Monday to give up his role as interim athletics director and focus on football is probably the best long-term outcome for UCF in what could have bee a very ugly situation.
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An official announcement from the school is expected at a Monday afternoon news conference.
UCF’s season-to-date has been one embarrassment after another, with the Knights opening the campaign with an upset loss to double-digit underdog FIU before going on to lose to FCS Furman and suffer blowout losses to Tulane and UConn.
O’Leary assumed athletic director duties on an interim basis in June after Todd Stansbury left to take the AD job at Oregon State.
O’Leary became the first acting head coach to juggle athletic director duties at UCF since Gene McDowell and was among a small fraternity of football coaches who have taken on the daunting challenge, including Barry Alvarez at Wisconsin and Tom Osborne at Nebraska. Stricklin, who has been with UCF since 2006, was promoted this summer to be the senior leader in athletics under OLeary. Check back and refresh this article for the latest updates.
O’Leary had been steadfast the last few months that the dual roles was not affecting the football teams performance, but the results could been seen otherwise.
Before the season, O’Leary said he wasn’t overwhelmed by the responsibility.
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UCF has hired a national search firm agency to fill the position.
