Mark's View: O'Leary Embarassment at Notre Dame

Mark's View: O'Leary's Embarrassment at Notre Dame

The stunning resignation of George O'Leary just six days after being named as the head football coach at Notre Dame is more than a spectacular fall from grace. It shows that the prevarications cost jobs.

O'Leary admitted falsifying information regarding his athletic and academic background. While applying for an assistant coaching job at Syracuse University in 1980, O'Leary stated that he earned a Master of Science degree from New York University, which turned out to be false. While he took courses there, he never graduated.

It was also reported that O'Leary exaggerating his playing career at the University of New Hampshire, claiming that he lettered in football when he never even played one game.

At one time, such transgressions could be considered minor inaccuracies to an otherwise stellar career. O'Leary coached at Georgia Tech -- a significant accomplishment -- but in today's world of employment rules, lying on a job application is a one-way ticket out the door. Whether is it an administrative assistant or a CEO, truth does matter.

What makes such conduct even more dangerous (for anyone who tries), it the ease of finding information. ESPN.com posted O'Leary's job application for the Syracuse position dated April 1980. The whole world can see it, making the smoking gun all too easy to prove.

This is something that George O'Leary and the Notre Dame found out the hard way.