I was digging up stats for a post and came across the UCF bio for former Georgia Tech coach George O'Leary.

In 2005, O'Leary led UCF to the fourth-best turnaround in NCAA history with a record of 8-5, including a 7-1 mark in Conference USA and the East Division Championship. The Golden Knights were just the sixth team in NCAA history to go to a bowl a year after going winless. The turnaround was nothing short of amazing and the college football world took notice. O'Leary was named Conference USA Coach of the Year in addition to being named National Coach of the Year by CBSSportsLine.com and SportsIllustrated.com. Facing an 11-game schedule with just four home games, O'Leary's UCF squad became just the fourth team in NCAA history to earn a bowl berth while playing seven road games in an 11-game schedule. Even more remarkable, the turnaround was made with a team of underclassmen. UCF had just 13 seniors on its roster - five of whom were significant contributors.

What kind of odds could you have gotten on that, from 0-11 to 8-5 and a bowl game? Panthers RB Alex Haynes was the starting RB for that team. They also had this to say about his tenure at GT:

During his seven-year stint at Georgia Tech, O'Leary guided the Yellow Jackets to a 52-33 (.612) record, including five bowl appearances. From 1995-2001, Georgia Tech recorded five winning seasons in six years, including the 1998 ACC Co-Championship and an appearance in the Toyota Gator Bowl on New Year's Day. 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.

These were good times as a GT football fan. I'm not trying to diss our 2006 season or Chan Gailey for that matter. I just really liked the job George did as a coach at GT and I think his success at UCF vindicates him a little for the ND coaching job-resume fiasco. He was too good of a coach to lose a dream job (for some people) to such a stupid mistake. He should have stayed at Tech!