Statue captures former UCF coach George O'Leary smiling, honors a complex legacy

On a cool morning earlier this week, George O'Leary laid in the back of a 1984 pickup truck with a football featuring the words "Fiesta Bowl" cradled in his right arm and a smile on his lips. He was ready to be mounted outside Bright House Networks Stadium.

The bronze statue, funded by private donations, will be in place by the time the UCF football team kicks off its final home game Saturday night against Tulsa.

"Hopefully people will like it," said Don Reynolds, the Sanford-based artist who created the statue. "Statues are very subjective. Some people might not like it, other people might love it. That's just the way statues are and have been historically since they first started building…