Editor's Note: Dick Weiss, a member of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association Hall of Fame, has covered college sports in Philadelphia and New York for more than 40 years. He will be providing regular commentary for the American Athletic Conference during the 2014-15 season.
Coach George O’Leary’s philosophy of challenging the nation’s best teams sends UCF to Ireland for the 2014 season opener.
NEWPORT, R.I.-- In a season of uncertainty, UCF gave the newly formed American Athletic Conference a reason to believe.
The Knights were 12-1 last season, winning the outright American title, outscoring Big 12 champion Baylor in the BCS Fiesta Bowl and finishing the season ranked No. 10 in the final Associated Press poll.
UCF may not be part of college football's inner circle, but the Knights were the second best team in the state of Florida last year, behind only BCS champion Florida State, and have built a culture of winning under coach George O'Leary over the past 10 years.
When O'Leary, who won two national coach of the year awards at Georgia Tech, arrived in Orlando, he inherited a UCF team that went 0-11 in his first year and rebuilt the Knights into an 8-5 bowl team the following season. Since then, the program has grown to a point where it has won at least 10 games in three of the last four years.
"I listen to all the talk about the Equity 5, Power 5,'' O'Leary said. "We're not going to change. We're going to do exactly what we have to do to be competitive as far as cost of attendance, meals. I just don't know how much you can feed 'em.
"I think the key, I've always said this, you have to play a very competitive nonconference schedule and win those games. I think that's what needs to be done. That's what I've always believed through all my years of coaching. But I think the big thing is that basically we're going to be competitive, we're going to go out and play the best teams we can play, then go from there.''
O'Leary is 67-years old and has never been one to shy away from a challenge. The Knights created national buzz last year when they defeated Big Ten blueblood Penn State in Happy Valley, defeated a top-10 conference rival, Louisville, on the road, and finished just four points shy of a perfect season when they lost to South Carolina, 28-25, at home.
UCF plays Penn State in Dublin, Ireland, in its opener this year, then plays at SEC power Missouri after a bye week. The Knights also have BYU on the schedule.
If quarterback Blake Bortles -- the American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year and the third pick in the NFL draft -- had stayed around for his senior year, UCF would have had a shot to win any game on their schedule and wind up as a contender for the College Football Playoff.
As it is, O'Leary has built the program to a point where the Knights have enough playmakers on offense, like running back William Stanback and wide receivers Rannel Hall and J.J. Worton, and enough experience on a physical defense that returns nine starters, including middle linebacker Terrance Plummer, to be in every game, provided they can find a suitable replacement for Bortles.
"You know, I'm a Yankees fan,'' said O'Leary, who grew up in East Islip on Long Island and still is a New Yorker at heart. "No one ever sneaks up on them. That's who they are. I've been at the other end, too. I know what it is to be the one sneaking up. But I'd much rather be where I'm at. At least I know where the target is.
“What I do with the season is this, is I take the 12 games and I make them 12 one-game seasons. Every weekend is a season. Once the season is over, we can go on to the next season. We have one goal on the team, period, and that's to win the conference championship.
UCF AD Todd Stansbury had enough faith in O'Leary's ability to sustain the program at a high level that he reworked O'Leary's $2 million dollar deal, adding a longevity clause that will play O'Leary an additional $1 million if he stays for two years, and gave all his assistants a pay hike.
One of The American's greatest strengths are its veteran coaches like O'Leary, Tommy Tuberville of Cincinnati, June Jones of SMU and Ruffin McNeill of East Carolina, who have all had their share of success. Tuberville coached Auburn to a 12-0 season and the SEC championship in 2004 when the Tigers should have played USC for the BCS title. Jones coached Hawaii to the Sugar Bowl in 2007. McNeill coached East Carolina to 10 wins and victories over in-state neighbors North Carolina and NC State last year.
All have bought into commissioner Mike Aresco's philosophy of building credibility by challenging themselves with difficult nonleague games.
Cincinnati has road games against Ohio State and Miami (Fla.). SMU will play Baylor on the road and Texas A&M and TCU at home. East Carolina has consecutive games at South Carolina and Virginia Tech and at home against North Carolina
"Don't just schedule them, but win'' O'Leary said. "If you don't win, don't come by at the end of the year complaining you didn't go to the playoffs. Same with these other teams. Whether I was at Georgia Tech, UCF, I've always played a good out-of-conference schedule. Your players understand it, they're very competitive that way.''
The Penn State game should once again set the tone for this rising program. It will be one of seven Saturday games the Knights play this season. UCF has been picked up by ESPN for five games on Thursday or Friday nights.
"How did that game came about? It was O'Leary, O'Brien,'' O'Leary said. "When Bill O'Brien was still at Penn State before taking the Houston Texans job in the NFL, he thought he would take his Penn State team, which was on probation, on a trip to make up for sanctions that prevented them from participating in a bowl. The game is going to be great.”
The game will be on in the States on national television. It's great exposure, not just in this country, not just in London, but all over Europe. I think it's great for American football.”