Former Georgia Tech coach returns with Vikings

When George O&#39;Leary leads his Minnesota Vikings defense onto the Georgia Dome field Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons, he thinks the crowd will hardly notice. <br> <br> Nearly two years have passed since O&#39;Leary, who led Georgia Tech to a 52-33 record in seven-plus seasons, last coached a game in Atlanta. His ties to the city still run deeply. O&#39;Leary&#39;s four adult children all live in the metropolitan area, and he maintains an offseason Lake Oconee home near Greensboro. <br> <br> The Vikings&#39; 57-year-old defensive coordinator acknowledges, though, that plenty of people still dislike him. <br> <br> ``I&#39;m sure I&#39;ll have an opportunity to see some of the friends I still have there,&#39;&#39; O&#39;Leary said with a grim laugh Wednesday night. <br> <br> Lies on his resume cost O&#39;Leary the head coaching job at Notre Dame, a position he held only five days in the second week of December 2001. During his career at Georgia Tech, a similar biography included false claims that he earned a master&#39;s degree from New York University and three letters in football at New Hampshire. <br> <br> The furor that followed his revelations left O&#39;Leary feeling disgraced, but a return to football helped him put his life back together. <br> <br> ``I always say it&#39;s how you handle the setbacks, not the setback,&#39;&#39; O&#39;Leary said in a telephone interview. ``That&#39;s what I&#39;ve been preaching. After a while, you just have to sit back and smile and laugh about it. There&#39;s nothing else you can do. I think for the most part a lot of people have put it behind them and moved on.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Former Georgia Tech players like Jeremy Muyres, Joe Hamilton and Kerry Watkins call O&#39;Leary regularly to gauge his mood, as do former assistants Ralph Friedgen, Bill O&#39;Brien, Danny Crossman and Lance Thompson. <br> <br> ``That was a great time in my career for me, and I have nothing but great praise for Tech,&#39;&#39; O&#39;Leary said. ``It&#39;s just the way you leave sometimes, some people take it the wrong way, but I think it&#39;s a job when it was offered I think it was very difficult to turn down. Some people don&#39;t understand that. That&#39;s their problem, but Tech has done nothing but good things for me. I tried to repay them through the work and some of the wins we accomplished there.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Thanks to his friendship with Mike Tice, O&#39;Leary was able to land a position with the Vikings less than a month after he resigned from his dream job at Notre Dame. Tice, who played under O&#39;Leary at Central Islip High School in Long Island, N.Y., hired his former coach at the lowest point in his life. <br> <br> ``It was unfortunate that happened, but I&#39;ve moved on, and I think everybody who keeps talking about it should move on,&#39;&#39; O&#39;Leary said. ``That&#39;s the way I look at it. I think you can only do what you do and try to earn the respect on the field and continue that way.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Last season was O&#39;Leary&#39;s first in the NFL since 1993, when he worked under Bobby Ross, his former boss at the Georgia Tech, for the San Diego Chargers. The Vikings finished No. 26 in total defense, and Tice fired coordinator Willie Shaw after Minnesota ended a 6-10 season. <br> <br> ``George has really brought a great work ethic to the table as far as getting the players to prepare, not only on the field, but also off the field and in the meeting rooms as well,&#39;&#39; Tice said. ``And his schemes are very sound and disciplined. He demands excellence, and it&#39;s kind of starting to pay off.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Under O&#39;Leary, the Vikings lead the NFL with 11 interceptions, including four each from starting safeties Corey Chavous and Brian Williams. Minnesota (4-0) enters its visit to Atlanta (1-3) eager to avenge last year&#39;s 30-24 overtime loss to the Falcons. <br> <br> O&#39;Leary is grateful his players won&#39;t face Michael Vick, the injured superstar quarterback who ran for two touchdowns, passed for another and set an NFL record for rushing by a quarterback with 173 yards against the Vikings. <br> <br> ``He made us last year look foolish, I&#39;ll tell you,&#39;&#39; O&#39;Leary said. ``We got a lot of rug burns. He&#39;s just a fantastic player. Obviously, when you lose a guy like him, it hurts because you gear a lot of things around what he can do. He just took us to task and took the ball and ran with it.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The Vikings&#39; defensive line, which O&#39;Leary oversees, is making life miserable for opposing quarterbacks. Ends Kenny Mixon, Kevin Williams and Lance Johnstone have combined for 16 quarterback hurries, five sacks and four passes defended. Tackles Chris Hovan have combined for 10 hurries and one sack. <br> <br> ``I&#39;ve been on them about that as far as awareness, understanding down and distance, understanding how far the ball&#39;s going to go on certain downs,&#39;&#39; O&#39;Leary said. ``They&#39;re a lot more accountable and responsible for what they&#39;re supposed to do.&#39;&#39;