George O'Leary is a punk

College football Media day moments

UCF Coach George O'Leary still won't speak to Orlando Sentinel

Iliana Limon

Sentinel Staff Writer

July 21, 2008

UCF Coach George O'Leary declined to answer questions from the Orlando Sentinel and barred his players from granting interviews with the newspaper during Conference USA media day on Sunday.

He also refused to speak with other reporters if a representative from the Sentinel was present at the UCF table during the only session for print reporters at media day.

O'Leary said last week he would not speak with the Sentinel until the newspaper corrected errors in its coverage of Ereck Plancher's death.

The newspaper has asked UCF officials to outline the mistakes, but the school has declined to discuss the errors in detail.

Conference USA officials and Ryan Powell, the media relations representative for the UCF football team, attempted to mediate the situation and allow a reporter to sit at the UCF table without asking questions, but O'Leary would not change his stance.

"We are sensitive to the needs of the Orlando Sentinel to cover the University of Central Florida, and we're also sensitive to the passion Coach O'Leary brings to his job," Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky said. "It's our hope that this issue can be resolved so that Central Florida fans can enjoy coverage of their team throughout the football season."


Crossfire

Conference USA has developed a reputation as being a high-powered offensive league.

Marshall Coach Mark Snyder said a lot of the schools could go through a major makeover, shifting the emphasis to defense.

"The league lost a lot of talented offensive players last year, and it seems like a lot of schools have a lot more depth on defense," he said. "There are some exceptions, but I think you're going to see a lot more good defensive teams."

Tulane Coach Bob Toledo, however, said offense still dictates the pace of Conference USA.

"In this league, No. 1, you'd better score a lot of points and, No. 2, you'd better have a good pass defense because there's some really strong passing offenses out there," he said.


Roster report

Southern Mississippi got a huge boost Friday when the NCAA Clearinghouse approved the academic credentials of WR DeAndre Brown, who was the No. 13-ranked player nationally by Scout.com and a Parade All-American. Brown was recruited by Florida, Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee and LSU before the Mississippi product opted to stick close to home. . . . UTEP Coach Mike Price was the only coach who didn't attend the media day. Price had eye surgery earlier this month and was not allowed to fly for three weeks.

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