Former UCF greats, McKenzie Milton and George O’Leary were honored at the 10th annual Mikey Awards at the Tap Room at Dubsdread in Orlando for their impact on UCF Football.
The Two-hour Award show led by the “voice of UCF” play by play commentator Marc Daniels and Orlando Sentinel Opinion columnist Mike Bianchi awarded former UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton with the Inspiration Award, while former Head Ball Coach George O’Leary was given the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Milton, who played for the black and gold from 2016-2018 led his team to three consecutive bowl appearances, including a 2018 Peach Bowl Victory over the Aubern Tigers after going undefeated as a team and coined themselves as the “2017 National Champions”.
Milton said he wasn’t always keen on coming to the 407 to play college ball, but his experience with former head coach Scott Frost made all the difference.
“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,” Milton said. “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.”
After a devasting leg injury in a game against UCF rival, USF, the former Knight had tough road of recovery after almost losing his leg, but ultimately made in back to the field when he transferred to Florida State in 2021 where he closed out his college career.
Milton said he was disappointed to retire from playing the game back in early June, but looks forward to cheering on his former teams, especially now that he is a dad.
“I hate that I did not get a look during the NFL draft, but I can’t change nine knee surgeries,” Milton said. “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.”
George O’Leary who left UCF a year before Milton’s arrival, is arguably responsible for putting UCF “on the map” on a national scale. O’leary was the Head Coach of the Knights from 2004-2015 where he collected 4 conference championships and three bowl wins, including a Fiesta Bowl win in 2014 over the former #1 ranked offensive team in the nation, the Baylor Bears.
O’Leary said one of the biggest achievements during his time at UCF was the ability to bring a stadium to the UCF campus
“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,” O’Leary said. “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.”
