THE FLATS – George O’Leary, who won an Atlantic Coast Conference championship, three bowl games and 52 games overall in his seven seasons as Georgia Tech’s head coach, represents the Yellow Jackets in the 2023 ACC Football Honors Class, which was announced on Tuesday.
O’Leary was a two-time ACC Coach of the Year during his seven seasons at the helm of the Yellow Jackets (1995-2001). He led Tech to the second ACC championship in school history in 1998, when the Jackets posted a 10-2 overall record (7-1 ACC), capped by a 35-28 victory over Notre Dame in the 1999 Gator Bowl and a No. 9 final national ranking.
In all, O’Leary led Georgia Tech to a 52-33 overall record, six winning seasons and five bowl berths in his seven seasons as head coach. In addition to his two ACC Coach of the Year awards (1998 and 2000), he was the 2000 Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year.
Prior to his seven seasons as head coach, O’Leary was Tech’s defensive coordinator and defensive line coach for a total of six seasons (1987-91 and 1994). As the Yellow Jackets’ DC, he helped lead Tech to its fourth national championship in 1990.
The many prominent players that O’Leary coached at Georgia Tech include current Yellow Jackets defensive line coach Marco Coleman (1989-91), who was a first-team All-American and member of Tech’s 1990 national title team under O’Leary’s tutelage as an assistant coach, 1999 Heisman Trophy runner-up and College Football Hall of Famer Joe Hamilton (1996-99) and current Tech head coach Brent Key (1996-2000).
O’Leary was inducted to the Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 2020.
The 2023 ACC Football Honors Class is comprised of one representative from each of the conference’s 14 football-playing institutions. O’Leary and the 13 other honorees will be celebrated during the ACC Football Honors program presented by the Charlotte Sports Foundation on Friday, Dec. 1 at the Belk Theater in Charlotte, N.C. The class will also be recognized during the next evening’s 2023 ACC Football Championship Game, which will kick off at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 2 at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium. ACC Network will air a telecast of the ACC Football Honors on Friday, Dec. 15 at 7 p.m.
Other members of the 2023 ACC Football Honors Class include Boston College’s Gosder Cherilus, Clemson’s Jeff Bostic, Duke’s Matt Daniels, Florida State’s Charlie Ward, Louisville’s Michael Bush, Miami’s Dennis Harrah, North Carolina’s Alge Crumpler, NC State’s Ray Agnew, Pitt’s Jackie Sherrill, Syracuse’s Robert Konrad, Virginia’s Rondé Barber, Virginia Tech’s Jeff King and Wake Forest’s Bill Ard.
O’Leary will be in attendance at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field on Saturday, Nov. 18 when Georgia Tech celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Yellow Jackets’ 1998 ACC championship and Gator Bowl victory in conjunction with Tech’s ACC finale versus Syracuse. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m.
Tickets remain for Georgia Tech’s final two home games of the regular season – Nov. 18 versus Syracuse and Nov. 25 against archrival Georgia. Click HERE to purchase tickets online.
Competitive Drive Initiative Turn 2
Looking to build on the success of last year’s Competitive Drive Initiative, Georgia Tech, the Georgia Tech Foundation and Georgia Tech athletics are partnering once again to launch Competitive Drive Initiative Turn 2. CDI Turn 2 has a goal of raising $2.5 million in new gifts to the Alexander-Tharpe Fund’s Athletic Scholarship Fund by Dec. 31, and Georgia Tech and the Georgia Tech Foundation will match eligible gifts to accelerate the impact for Tech athletics. Like last year, not only will gifts to CDI Turn 2 be matched, but so will the contributor’s benefits in the way of A-T Fund giving levels and priority points. To learn more and contribute online, visit atfund.org/turn2.
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