The O’Leary Factor 1968-74: Assistant coach, Central Islip 1975-76: Head coach, Central Islip (16-1-1) 1977-79: Head coach Liverpool, N.Y., (21-7) 1980-84: Defensive line coach, Syracuse University 1984-86: Assistant head coach/defensive line coach, Syracuse 1987-91: Defensive coordinator/defensive line coach, Georgia Tech 1992-93: Defensive line coach, San Diego Chargers 1994: Defensive coordinator/defensive line coach, Georgia Tech 1994-2001: Head coach, Georgia Tech Present: Head coach, Notre Dame

But when George Joseph O'Leary was introduced by Notre Dame athletic director Kevin White as the 27th coach of Fighting Irish football at Joyce Center Sunday, even with the ESPN and New England-sourced tipoffs, there were more than a few shocked faces.

How, they wondered, could Jon Gruden ever say no to a school he had often sworn allegiance to, even as Oakland Raiders coach?

And how, given the chance to step up to full national prominence, could Oregon coach Mike Bellotti pull his name out of the most publicized lottery in college football history?

The orchestration took some very, very complex twists and turns, collegeBLITZ.com learned this week.

One exceptionally well-connected Chicago area source confirmed what had become virtual public knowledge, that all along, Jon Gruden was the No. 1 priority.

"I don't know how names like Tim Murphy (one reporter on a true fishing expedition had floated the Harvard coach's name as a possibility), Tom Coughlin and others got out there," he said.

"The process really started in earnest about six weeks ago," he added. "Coughlin was eliminated right away, because someone in the athletic department was very unhappy with a couple of things about him.

"(Wisconsin coach/former Notre Dame assistant Barry) Alvarez was eliminated early, too. It really came down to Gruden, Bellotti and the guy from the outside, whom not many were that aware of, O'Leary."

Notre Dame officials have always been prim and proper when it comes to such situations. Assistant Athletic Director John Heisler, the university's sports information director, along with White, had pretty much underlined that with the usual "Until we announce it, everything is speculation" approach.

So the media feeding frenzy built. Notre Dame- haters among the press corps began to pompously proclaim the Irish head coaching job had lost a good bit of its luster, that people were turning down Notre Dame, because maybe Irish football was becoming irrelevant to today's youths.

The culture has changed, many writers and electronics had declared. The admissions office was a fortress. The demands on the students at N.D. were forbidding.

But in fact, the key reason Jon Gruden wasn't standing at the makeshift podium on the edge of the Joyce Center basketball floor was simple: An awkward series of machinations that would have been required to break him loose from the chokehold of Raiders owner Al Davis.

"Gruden doesn't own his house out there. He lives in a house Al Davis owns," the Notre Dame source said, confirming a point made by an N.F.L. insider earlier in the week.

"A lot of things came up that Gruden couldn't justify (re: ways to break his relationship with Oakland). His big fear is that he might have been fired (if word got out he was headed to Notre Dame) and he didn't want to get fired.

"There were hangups like waiting until Feb. 1, but he was (perhaps) thinking he might be fired."

Additionally, the N.D. insider reasoned, "If he REALLY wanted the job, you'd think he wouldn't care about being fired."

So No. 1 was gone, and No. 2, Bellotti, decided to stay in Eugene.

Which brings us back to Joyce Center. O'Leary, 55 and a native of Central Islip, N.Y., with the Lawng Island accent to prove it, had the 1,000 or so Notre Dame loyalists enraptured almost from the start.

"I'm here because I believe we can win and win big," he told the crowd. "No guesses on Saturday afternoons!" The old Irish wink and nod hypnotized the gathering.

In some ways, George Joseph O'Leary, the grandson of 19th-century Irish immigrants, turns out to be the perfect fit for Notre Dame.

His seven-year record at Georgia Tech is 52-33, but he has guided the Ramblin' Wreck to five straight bowl appearances, the latest being a Dec. 27 Seattle Bowl game with Stanford (which, ironically, is coached by Tyrone Willingham, yet another name batted around as a Notre Dame possibility). In the past four seasons Tech has gone 34-14, but the Yellowjackets are part of O'Leary's past, because assistant Mac MacWhorter will coach the Jackets against Stanford.

One inquisitor wanted to know about recruiting. Again, O'Leary's deft sense of timing and humor had the J.C. audience rolling.

"I'm pretty much my own recruiting coordinator," he said. "I know how to dial a phone.

"Funny thing about recruiting: You never forget the ones you lose, but you forget the ones you land!"

His cheshire-cat smile won the day. And guys like junior-to-be quarterback Carlyle Holiday marveled at O'Leary's success with the Georgia Tech offense.

"I remember watching (then-Tech quarterback) Joe Hamilton with Georgia Tech," he told South Bend station WNDU-TV. "We can deal with those kinds of schemes."

Holiday's eyes sparkled as he emphasized his admiration for O'Leary.

The absence of Gruden did little to dim the Joyce Center enthusiasm level. "By George, it's O'Leary" shirts were everywhere. But O'Leary knows there will be millions of scrutinizing eyes on him when the Irish kick off their 113th season Sept. 7 at home against Purdue.

Senior Michael Brown of Milwaukee, perhaps the most animated Notre Dame leprechaun mascot in school history, was impressed with the Irish brass' thorough-but-quick hiring.

"I don't know much about him," Brown admitted to WNDU-TV, "but I'm sure glad they got it done quickly."

The Chicagoland "Domer" went two steps farther. "The criteria were that he be a Catholic and that he know what Notre Dame is about."

O'Leary had impressed the selection committee from the start and by the time University President Rev. Edward A. Malloy, C.S.C. met with him Saturday in Atlanta, a new patch in Notre Dame's brilliant football tapestry had been woven.

His closer line Sunday won him a pretty solid wall of support, similar to President Bush's "Let's roll" signoff in explaining his military plans for the Afghanistan campaign a month back.

"Let's go win some games," he said emphatically.

Not exactly a Notre Dame moment, but for George O'Leary on college football's most demanding campus, a good start.