Has coached 26 future MLB players
Third coach in 125 years at SCU to reach 200+ wins
26 MLB Draft picks in nine seasons at Santa Clara
College World Series coaching at Stanford (2001, 2000 &1999)
Three-straight top-40 recruiting classes at Cal Poly
Santa Clara University head baseball coach and Bay Area nativeMark O'Brien owns 241 career victories, just the third coach inSCU's 125-year baseball history to reach the 200-win milestone.
O'Brien signed a multi-year contract extension in 2008 afterleading the Broncos to their best season in more than a decade.O'Brien's 2008 squad twice beat NCAA Champion Fresno StateUniversity en route to posting a 33-22 overall record. 2008highlights included: 10 All-WCC selections, an All-America honoreeand six players signing professional contracts.
Entering his tenth year in 2010-11, O'Brien became Santa Clara's35th head coach when he was hired on June 11, 2001. Immediatesuccess ensued. In his second season, he guided the Broncos totheir first winning season since 1997, posting a 31-26 record and a21-9 mark in league play in 2003.
He became only the fourth coach in program history to win his50th game in only his second season as head coach, joining SalTaormina, Jerry McClain and John Oldham. The win was a savory oneas he watched his team defeat the second-ranked Stanford Cardinal2-0 in Sunken Diamond, giving him his second career win over hisformer team.
The three years prior to joining the Broncos, O'Brien served asan assistant coach at Stanford. O'Brien assisted with all aspectsof the program, as the Cardinal's hitting and fielding instructorand handled the duties of first base coach. During those threeseasons Stanford qualified for the College World Series, takinghome a third place finish in 1999 and back-to-back nationalrunners-up in 2000 and 2001. O'Brien's infielders led the nation in2001 with a .977 fielding percentage and was among the top-five inthe nation in 1999 and 2000.
Throughout his extensive coaching career, O'Brien has tutored 28All-Americans. In his first three-years as the Broncos' skipper,O'Brien produced four All-Americans, becoming the first coach inschool history to produce four All-Americans in such a short amountof time.
Joey Gomes was a first-team selection in 2002 followed by ScottDierks and Patrick Overholt in 2003, who earned honorable mentionand Freshman All-America honors respectively. In 2004, Anthony Reawas a second-team honoree. In 2006, Matt Long and Matt Wickswatearned freshman team honors, while catcher
Tommy Medica was named a Freshman All-American in 2007 and aCollegiate Baseball Third Team All-American in 2010. Pitcher ThainSimon earned Freshman All-American honors in 2008. Following the2009 season O'Brien saw standout infielder Jon Karcich drafted inthe 7th-round of the MLB First Year Player Draft.
On May 27, 2010, former O'Brien understudy Matt Daily, whoserved on the SCU coaching staff as an assistant from 2005-08, wasnamed the Baseball Coach of the Year by the Association of DivisionIII Independent Colleges and Universities in just his second yearat the helm of the Menlo College Oaks. Daily directlycredited O'Brien for assisting him in his coachingdevelopment: "I feel that Coach O'Brien is one of the topHead Baseball Coaches on the West Coast, and having the opportunityto work with he and the rest of his staff was a tremendous andinvaluable experience. Many of the things we do within ourown Menlo program are based upon his model for success. He isan exceptional motivator and competitor, and I was extremelyfortunate to have been given the chance to learn as part of hisbaseball staff and his program. He is a proven winner inevery facet of the game, on the field and off of it."
O'Brien was a critical component to the recruiting efforts whileat Stanford. The recruited class in 2001 was ranked No. 1 in thenation, while the classes in 1999 and 2000 were ranked in thetop-10. His talents of recruiting can be traced back even to hisearlier days at De Anza and Cal Poly. At De Anza, O'Brien was ableto recruit 12 local high school seniors within a two-week period,while helping all nine sophomores already on the team continue onto four-year institutions. While at Cal Poly, O'Brien assisted inrecruiting three-straight classes that were ranked in the top-40by Collegiate Baseball.
In his one season as head coach at De Anza, O'Brien led the Donsto a third-place finish in the Coast Conference. At Cal Poly, heserved as recruiting coordinator, academic advisor and third basecoach, as well as hitting and infield instructor. During thesummers of 1996 and 1997, O'Brien served as head coach of theAnchorage Bucs in the Alaska Summer League. He led the Bucs to a68-40 record and a league championship in 1996, while coaching foureventual first-round draft picks (Matt Ginter, Danny Peoples, MarkRedman and Alvie Shepard).
Throughout his coaching career O'Brien has helped over 80players advance on to professional baseball, including 10first-round draft picks. O'Brien's list of first-rounders includes:Joe Borchard, Justin Wayne, Jason Young and the four players fromthe Anchorage Bucs. He also coached the 1999 Minor League `Playerof the Year' and future Oakland A's outfielder Adam Piatt.
Currently, there are 26 players in the major leagues that haveplayed under O'Brien at some level.
Other notable players that O'Brien has coached at some criticalpoint of their career include: current Chicago White Sox sluggerCarlos Quentin, Stanford's all-time leading hitter and World Serieswinner John Gall, three-time All-American and Pac-10 RBIrecord-holder Andrew Beinbrink, Santa Clara All-American Bill Mott,NCAA all-time career saves leader Jack Krawczyk, and MLB veteransRyan Garko and Sam Fuld.
O'Brien played collegiately at San Jose State from 1991-92 andwas the Spartans' team captain in his final year. He was also namedan Alaska Summer League All-Star in 1991 after coming to SJSU fromSt. Francis High School and De Anza College. O'Brien was recentlyelected into the St. Francis High School Hall of Fame.
He resides in Los Gatos with his wife Staci Duncan, a formerwomen's soccer All-American at UCLA and the Bruins' all-time leaderin points scored. In 2008, Staci was elected into the Hall of Fameat her prep alma mater, Archbishop Mitty High School.
The couple has two young daughters.
