Nicely Said

The Orlando Sentinel on the waste of money that is George O’Leary:

But Mr. Hitt bears the burden of this mess.

Smitten by Mr. O'Leary, despite his less-than-impressive body of work, UCF gave him a contract extension in May of 2006. Mr. O'Leary, who had been making $720,000 each year, hit the mother lode with the new deal: a 10-year contract extension paying $1 million a year, which could balloon to $1.5 million per year with incentives (including attendance benchmarks at football games). It also came with a fat, $5-million buyout clause, leaving UCF on the hook if it wanted to fire Mr. O'Leary.

That's a lot to shower on a coach whose UCF record at the time was 10-21.

Mr. O'Leary's salary is funded through an athletics association that receives money through various sources, including contributions and ticket sales. But student fees account for more than 40 percent of its budget. So every kid going to UCF is helping make Mr. O'Leary a rich man.

With such a steep buyout clause, UCF might have trouble coming up with the money even if it wanted to get rid of Mr. O'Leary. It would have an even harder time coming up with an explanation for such spending in these difficult economic times.

So for better or worse, they're stuck with each other, like two people in a lousy marriage.