O’Brien fits right in as Mids’ analyst in radio booth

Former head coach, Navy grad offers game insight

Tom O’Brien had a pretty good gig as color analyst for ESPN college football broadcasts.

O’Brien, who worked as a coach at Virginia, Boston Collge and and N.C. State, primarily covered the Atlantic Coast Conference for the network. He traveled to different schools each weekend and was able to catch up with friends developed during a four-decade career as a college football coach.

However, O’Brien did not hesitate when offered the position as color analyst for the Navy Football Radio Network. The 1971 Naval Academy graduate gladly gave up the ESPN gig in order to reconnect with his alma mater.

“It really wasn’t a difficult decision to choose Navy radio over ESPN television,” O’Brien said. “The Naval Academy holds a special place in my heart. I went to school here, played football here and began my coaching career here.”

O’Brien earned three letters as a defensive end for the Navy football team from 1968 through 1970. After serving nine years in the Marine Corps and rising to the rank of major, O’Brien returned to Annapolis to serve as academic liaison for the Navy football program. He also directed the junior varsity under head coach George Welsh.

When Welsh left Navy for Virginia in 1982, he took O’Brien with him as offensive line coach. O’Brien was soon promoted to offensive coordinator and oversaw some high-powered units featuring future NFL standouts.

Virginia’s offensive success helped O’Brien get hired as head coach at Boston College, where he had a successful 10-year tenure. He led the Eagles to eight straight winning seasons capped by bowl berths. He spent six seasons at N.C. State and retired from coaching in 2012 after compiling a 115-80 career record.

O’Brien was enjoying the good life in Charleston, S.C., whenhe realized he missed college football. His daughter, Colleen O’Sullivan, is a producer with ESPN, which accepted the services of a former coach with such vast experience and insight.

“My first foray into broadcasting came two years ago when I was assigned to the Clemson-Appalachian State game,” O’Brien recalled. “I get to the stadium and they tell me to go down on the field because I would be doing one-minute updates on ESPN wraparound. I had no idea what they were talking about and what they wanted me to do.”

O’Brien sought advice from former colleagues such as Mack Brown (North Carolina, Texas) about making the transition into television. He improved weekly while doing ESPN3 telecasts of Atlantic Coast, Sun Belt and Mid-American conference contests.

“I would say the consensus among coaches who had done television was that it was a great way to stay active and remain involved with the game,” O’Brien said. “I think the best thing is that through ESPN I had access to all the college football film from 2011 through 2016. I could pull up any game I wanted. It was a great way to fill time during the week.”

That broadcasting experience made O’Brien even more attractive when the Naval Academy Athletic Association was searching for a replacement for Omar Nelson, who left the booth to become a recruiting coordinator for Navy football.

O’Brien learned of the radio opening from his son, who just happens to be an assistant coach for the Midshipmen. Dan O’Brien, Navy’s secondary coach, was visiting his parents in Charleston when he mentioned that Nelson would be joining the administrative staff.

O’Brien made his debut on Friday night at Florida Atlantic, working alongside veteran play-by-play announcer Pete Medhurst and sideline reporter Joe Miller. Navy’s opener was a challenge because the visiting radio booth at FAU Stadium did not have any television monitors, which prevented the team from seeing replays. Home opener Saturday, 3:30 p.m. TV: CBS Sports Network Radio: 1090 AM