Tom O'Brien (American Football)
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Thomas P. O’Brien, Jr. (born October 5, 1948), is a former American
college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
coach and player. He served as the head football coach at
Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...
from 1997 to 2006 and
North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and p ...
from 2007 to 2012, compiling a career college football head coaching record of 115 wins and 80 losses.


Early life and education

O'Brien was born in
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
, Ohio. He played football and baseball at St. Xavier High School, from which he graduated in 1966. O'Brien earned an appointment to the
United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...
, where he was a three-year starter at
defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...
for the
Midshipmen A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afric ...
from 1968 to 1970. He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1971 with a bachelor of science degree in management.


Early career

After graduation, O'Brien served nine years in the
Marines Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included Raid (military), raiding ashor ...
. During this time he began coaching as an assistant for Navy's plebe (freshman) team, then served at the Marine base in
Quantico, Virginia Quantico (; formerly Potomac) is a town in southeastern Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 578 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Quantico is approximately 35 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., bound ...
, as well as tours of duty in
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
and
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. O'Brien reached the rank of major in the Marine Corps Reserve. In 1975, O'Brien returned to Navy and joined the staff of George Welsh, coaching tackles and tight ends. When Welsh became head coach at the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...
in 1982, O'Brien joined his staff, where he remained for 15 years. During this period Virginia had 10 consecutive winning seasons and a share of two conference championships. O’Brien served as offensive coordinator in his final six seasons and consistently ran one of the top offenses in the
Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...
.


Head coaching


Boston College

O'Brien became
Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...
's 32nd head football coach on December 13, 1996. He took over a program coming off two straight losing seasons and reeling from a massive gambling scandal. O'Brien's first two Eagles teams responded with 4–7 records that included wins over
Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...
and
West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...
. He coached Mike Cloud to the BC all-time rushing record and first-team
All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...
honors. Cloud was a second-round draft pick of the
Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...
while center
Damien Woody Damien Michael Woody (born November 3, 1977) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive guard for the New England Patriots, Detroit Lions, and New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college fo ...
was selected in the first round by the New England Patriots and offensive guard
Doug Brzezinski Douglas Gregory Brzezinski (born March 11, 1976) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive guard in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles and the Carolina Panthers. He played college footba ...
was picked in the third round by the
Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...
. In 1999, three years of hard work paid off for O'Brien, his staff and players as they engineered the third-best turnaround in Division I college football. Led by
Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...
' first-round draft pick and All-American Chris Hovan, the Eagles registered three consecutive wins over
Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...
,
West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...
and Notre Dame to finish the regular season with an 8–3 record, a top 25 national ranking and a trip to the Insight.com Bowl - Boston College's first bowl appearance since 1994. The 2000 Eagles posted a record of 7–5, including an impressive 31–17 win over
Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...
in the
Aloha Bowl The Aloha Bowl was a college football bowl game played in Honolulu, Hawaii, at Aloha Stadium. Certified by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the game featured teams from Division I-A (later known as the Football Bowl Subdivisio ...
. Seven players earned All-Big East honors and offensive guard
Paul Zukauskas Paul Malcolm Zukauskas (born July 12, 1979) is an American former professional football player. He played college football at Boston College. He was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the seventh round of the 2001 NFL draft and played for the B ...
earned first-team All-America honors. He was later chosen in the seventh round of the NFL draft by the
Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...
. The 2001 season was a satisfying one for O'Brien as the Eagles finished 8–4 and ranked in the top 25 in both major polls, capped by a 20–16 win over SEC powerhouse
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
in the
Music City Bowl The Music City Bowl is a post-season American college football bowl game certified by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA that has been played in Nashville, Tennessee, since 1998 in sports, 1998. Since 2020, it has been sponsored by ...
. A 21–17 victory over Notre Dame gave the Eagles two wins in three years against their archrivals. Boston College gave eventual national champion
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
by far its biggest scare of the entire season at
Alumni Stadium Alumni Stadium is a college football stadium on the lower campus of Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. It is about west of downtown Boston, just inside the Boston city limits near the border with Newton, Massachusetts, Newton. It i ...
as the Hurricanes were able to pull out a victory only in the final seconds. Running back William Green rushed for 1,559 yards and was the second-leading rusher in the country and a consensus first-team All-America pick. Green (16th,
Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...
) and offensive tackle
Marc Colombo Marc Edward Colombo (born October 8, 1978) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He is currently the offensive line coach for the St. Louis Battleha ...
(29th,
Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...
) were selected in the first round of the
NFL draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...
, the first time two BC players were picked in the first round. Over the next few years, the team posted respectable won-lost records and continued to win bowl games. In 2002, BC went 9–4 and won the
Motor City Bowl The Little Caesars Pizza Bowl (known as the Motor City Bowl until 2009) was a post-season college football bowl game that was played annually from 1997 to 2013. The first five games (1997–2001) were played at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, M ...
, in 2003 they were 8–5 with a victory in the San Francisco Bowl and finished 9–3 in 2004 with a win in the
Continental Tire Bowl The Duke's Mayo Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that has been played at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, since 2002. Originally commissioned as the Queen City Bowl, it has undergone many name changes due to sp ...
. The year 2004 would be the Eagles final campaign in the Big East. They finished the season in a four-way tie atop the league for their first (and so far only) football conference championship and closed the season ranked #21 in both major polls. BC won eight straight postseason bowl games, the first six under O'Brien, between 2000 and 2008. BC ranked sixth nationally in Student-Athlete GPA for 2004–05.


NC State

In December of 2006, O'Brien expressed his interest in the open job at North Carolina State, having already been considered (and passed over) for the North Carolina job (incidentally, BC had lost to NC State that fall). The program received permission from Boston College to interview O'Brien. After interviewing him on December 3 and doing negotiations, the two came to an agreement on December 6, with subsequent approval by the school two days later. O'Brien signed a seven year contract (with a considerable payraise from what he received at BC) with North Carolina State. He inherited a team that had gone 3–9 and lost its last seven games. Despite this, he referred to the school as "a sleeping giant" due to its focus on facilities. In his first year, after opening the season 1–5, his team won four straight games, including a win over 18th-ranked
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
and road wins at
East Carolina East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of universities in North Carolina by enrollment, fourth largest university in North Carolina and the only one in the state with s ...
and
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
. Despite the slow start, his first Wolfpack squad went into the season finale with a bowl bid on the line. In 2008, O'Brien's team became the first in
Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...
history to start the season 0–4 in league play and finish 4–0. The bid to the Papajohns.com Bowl marked the ninth bowl invitation in the past 10 years for O'Brien. His freshman quarterback, future NCAA All-American and NFL star
Russell Wilson Russell Carrington Wilson (born November 29, 1988) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He has primarily played for the Seattle Seahawks. With the Sea ...
, became the first rookie in the history of the Atlantic Coast Conference to be named first-team all-conference at his position and it marked the sixth time in his 19 years in the league that a quarterback under O'Brien's tutelage was named the All-ACC signal caller. In 2009, his team posted wins over
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
of the
Big East The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...
and a third straight win over
North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
, but was decimated by injuries and finished the season 5–7. After being picked to finish fourth in the Atlantic Division in the preseason in 2010, the Wolfpack finished tied for second, was one game away from playing for an ACC title and was the third league team picked in the bowl selections. O'Brien's squad was the first Wolfpack team to garner nine wins since 2003 posted State’s first winning season in five years. With the
Champs Sports Bowl The Pop-Tarts Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that is played in Orlando, Florida, at Camping World Stadium. Originally commissioned as the Sunshine Classic, it has undergone many name changes due to sponsorship rights. The bowl is o ...
victory over
West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...
, the 2010 squad tied the second highest win total in school history while finishing 9–4. In 2011, after a brief stint in minor league baseball that caused him to miss spring practice,
Russell Wilson Russell Carrington Wilson (born November 29, 1988) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He has primarily played for the Seattle Seahawks. With the Sea ...
transferred to Wisconsin for his final year of eligibility after O'Brien named
Mike Glennon Michael Joseph Glennon (born December 12, 1989) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the NC State Wolfpack football, NC State Wolfpack ...
as his quarterback for the 2011 season. The Glennon-led Wolfpack finished the year with an 8–5 record. On November 25, 2012, O'Brien received notice from NC State that he had been dismissed effective immediately after navigating the team to a 7–5 regular-season record. Athletic director Debbie Yow cited several reasons. She was concerned over lagging season-ticket sales, as well as his approach to recruiting. O'Brien's recruiting classes were frequently in the bottom half of the nation, and Yow wanted a coach who could bring top 25-type talent to Raleigh. NCSU was obligated to pay $1.2 million of non-state funds to O'Brien, as his contract ran through the 2015 season. However, NCSU ended up only having to pay O'Brien $200,000 after the buyout was renegotiated so he could become an assistant at
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
. O'Brien announced he was retiring from coaching on January 6, 2015.


Broadcasting career

After a brief retirement, O'Brien accepted an offer to become an ''
ESPN College Football ''ESPN College Football'' is the branding used for broadcasts of NCAA Division I FBS college football across ESPN properties, including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPN+, ABC, ESPN Classic, ESPN Deportes, ESPNews and ESPN Radio. ''ESPN College Fo ...
'' color analyst. In September 2017, O'Brien accepted an offer to become a color analyst for Navy Football Radio Network.


Personal

O'Brien is active in community outreach programs and serves on the board of directors for the Marine Corps' "
Toys for Tots Toys for Tots is a program run by the United States Marine Corps Reserve which distributes toys to children whose parents cannot afford to buy them gifts for Christmas. It was founded in 1947 by reservist Major Bill Hendricks. The Marine T ...
." He was a
major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...
in the
Marine Corps reserves The Marine Forces Reserve (MARFORRES or MFR), also known as the United States Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR) and the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve, is the Reserve components of the United States armed forces, reserve force of the United State ...
. O'Brien also owns a vacation home in
South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...
, where he plans to spend his retirement after coaching. He is married to the former Jennifer Byrd of
San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
, who is on the national board of Rostro de Cristo. They are the parents of three children.


Head coaching record

* Did not coach bowl game


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Tom 1948 births Living people American football defensive ends Boston College Eagles football coaches Navy Midshipmen football announcers Navy Midshipmen football coaches Navy Midshipmen football players NC State Wolfpack football coaches Virginia Cavaliers football coaches United States Naval Academy alumni United States Marine Corps officers St. Xavier High School (Ohio) alumni Coaches of American football from Ohio Players of American football from Cincinnati