UCF’s Milton and O’Leary Feted at 2022 Mikey Awards

ORLANDO -  They both have football in the rearview mirror in some sense, even if their passion for the game hasn't gone away.
 
They both qualify among the greatest names in UCF athletics history—one meriting a sculpture outside FBC Mortgage Stadium on the UCF campus.
 
One was leaving UCF just as the other arrived.
 
Out of the game (one for the first time this fall), they now bring a different perspective to the college football scene.
 
That's why both earned awards Tuesday night at the 10th annual Mikey Awards (The Sports Year in Review) at the Tap Room at Dubsdread in Orlando. The two-hour awards show, led by Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Bianchi and UCF play-by-play voice Marc Daniels, played live on iHeart Radio 96.9 FM The Game.
 
Former UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton (2016-18) received the Inspiration Award—while former Knight head football coach George O'Leary (2004-15) received the Lifetime Achievement Award.
 
Here are some of the thoughts they offered, as interviewed by Bianchi and Daniels:
 
McKenzie Milton
 
--On his journey to UCF: "I was Gatorade Player of the Year in Hawaii as a junior and then was hurt game five of my senior year in high school when I was maybe playing at the highest level I'd ever played at. Felt like I was kind of underrecruited, flying under the radar, and still landed at a great place like UCF. My dream school had been Oregon and that never panned out, but Coach (Scott ) Frost recruited me and it turned out to be the best thing for me. Freshman year was up and down—got booed in my last game at the Cure Bowl. I looked in the mirror and held myself accountable on and off the field. I buckled them up, pulled on my work boots—and then we won 25 straight games. I could say unfortunately I had a tough knee injury, but that was my cross to bear. No one else had ever come back from an injury like that. I take a lot of pride in that, I take a lot of pride in wearing the Garnet and Gold (at Florida State in 2021). It did not play out the way I anticipated (in Tallahassee), but I hope I inspired some people."
 
--On the notion that he has been an inspiration to other: "That means a lot to me. I've taken inspiration from others, like Teddy Bridgewater and Jaylon Smith. I took motivation from a lot of my teammates, given situations they had been through."
 
--On his work with current UCF quarterback Mikey Keene: "I've never been in a locker room with Mikey, but just seeing what he did in the bowl game, how he carried himself out there . . . . just seeing how he works. I see a little bit of myself in him. It's all about the competition. I'm excited to see what he does this year."
 
--On when he thought something special was brewing at UCF: "In spring ball (2017) I thought I was getting over that learning curve from freshman to sophomore year. Understanding protections, understanding what defenses were going to do, understanding my job. I knew the talent we had. All those things started adding up. It was maybe after the first Memphis game that we won, and they were picked to win the conference and we blew 'em out of the water that day. The rest of it speaks for itself."
 
--On being out of football in 2022: "I hate that I did not get a look during the (NFL) draft, but I can't change nine knee surgeries. That's just the reality of it. I still think I can play at a high level—but I'm a father now, a husband now. That's the most important thing right now. If there was a legitimate path to the NFL I would consider it--but I gave everything to the game. The first time I watched a game was Florida against UCF, and I honestly enjoyed that way more than playing. I'm excited to watch UCF and Florida State this year and support all my guys."
 
--On Orlando: "I love it here. I'll probably be here for the foreseeable future."
 
--On the prospect of coaching: "I'm running some QB camps in the area so I get my little tickle of coaching. I'm working with my company Dreamfield Sports, trying to get these guys legit marketing deals. It's been a lot of fun, getting outside my sandbox of playing. I'm in the business world now and I'm still learning, I'm asking a lot of questions—just like when I was a freshman playing quarterback."
 
George O'Leary
 
--On why he thought he could come to UCF and be successful: "I was the defensive coordinator at the Minnesota Vikings and, as far as the UCF people, I was sort of interviewing them. I wanted to make sure they were committed to winning. I asked the right questions and they gave the right answers."
 
--On the 2014 Fiesta Bowl win over Baylor: "I thought the key was the game plan, so our guys could just be confident and use their techniques."
 
--On being away from the game: "I miss it on Saturdays and Sundays. The game itself is still the greatest of them all being played. It's about accountability and responsibility. The teams that win consistently are all disciplined teams—they know their responsibilities and their techniques and they utilize them. The coaches for the most part are no-nonsense guys. I tell coaches, 'Learn the trade, not the tricks of the trade.'"
 
--On the direction of the game today: "I was talking to (UCF athletics director) Terry Mohajir, and a scholarship these days is worth $200,000. But everyone wants to talk about name, image and likeness (NIL) and I don't think it's the right direction to be heading. No one talks about academics any more. College football is amateur. That's the way it needs to stay. They need to get it under control, they really do."
 
--On the importance of an on-campus stadium at UCF: "When we first got here, it felt a little like every game was an away game because we were getting in a bus and going down to the Citrus Bowl for our home games. I remember being in the locker room and John Hitt came in and Jerry Roth and Dick Nunis and they said, 'What would you think if we got a stadium on campus?' I said, 'Man, no question about it. What do we need to do?' And they made it happen. You need a place to call home. You want to know where to tailgate and know where to sit all the time. There's no question having a stadium on campus told people that UCF was going in the right direction, as far as the fan base was concerned."
 
--On the transfer portal: "In all my years of coaching I had maybe four transfers. If I had control right now, I'd say you have three days after your last game to get into the portal—then it goes back to where you have to sit out a year. Right now, how do you recruit? Get control of that—otherwise it's not heading the right direction."