This Sunday, George O'Leary was named head coach of one of the most storied programs in college football. With names like Gruden, Mariucci, Stoops and Bellotti being thrown around since the firing of coach Bob Davie over a week ago, the selection of O'Leary left many asking, including myself, "George who"?

However, after the press conference this Saturday, there can be no second guessing athletic director Kevin White's decision to hire O'Leary, who has lead the Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech back to prominence since taking over the head coaching position in 1994. Why, you may ask, am I certain the O'Leary will succeed as the Fightin' Irish's coach? There are three reasons:

First and foremost, Coach O'Leary loves the fact that he is going to be Notre Dame's head coach. Davie loved the fact that he was going to be a head coach, but I do not think that he realized that he was going to be Notre Dame's head coach. O'Leary, with his Irish Catholic roots, respects the Irish program, believes in it and has the desire to see the Fightin' Irish at the top of the BCS standings come next winter. Davie wanted the team to succeed, but I do not think he realized the magnitude of Ara Parseghian's advice to "do one thing, and that's win." O'Leary, however, stated in his press conference that "I'm coming to Notre Dame to win games and win a lot of them. That's what it is all about."

Second, O'Leary seems to be a far harsher type of coach than Davie, and I mean that in a good way. He respects the fact that the athletes at Notre Dame are here to play and get a degree, but when the players hit the practice field they're on his time and no one else's and they're going to do things his way or the highway. Football fundamentals, execution and discipline seem to be priorities on his list, something that was lacking at times during Davie's tenure.

Finally, O'Leary genuinely seems to be a blue-collar type guy that is no-nonsense and will tell it how it is. Davie was too political at times and skirted around issues instead of taking them head on. O'Leary answered questions at his press conference straight up and to the point, giving the answer to what was asked and answering in kind to how they were presented. A question that seemed a little odd or had an obvious answer was answered with quick wit while a solid question was answered to the best of his knowledge. Any man that answers the question of "When do you expect to see significant improvement in the team" with "When does spring football start?" is the kind of coach that the program needs.

So, when the Irish take the field against Maryland next year (against one of O'Leary's former assistants) be proud that O'Leary is at the helm of our team and leading us "marching onward to victory."

• O'Leary has Irish spirit