Dan O'Brien (college)

• School University of California, San Diego

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Biographical Information

Dan O'Brien is a college coach.

O'Brien played at University of California, San Diego in 1994-1995 and appeared in the NCAA Division III World Series in college. He then followed college coach Lyle Yates to the Greenville Bluesmen where he was 2 for 8 as a player-coach in 1996. He came back to UCSD as an assistant in 1997. He was interim head coach in 1998, going 20-18, and became head coach in 1999, when he was 19-18. The club went 22-13 in 2000.

Moving up to NCAA Division II, O'Brien's squad fell to 14-34 in 2001 but went 30-23-1 in 2002. By 2004, they were 35-24 and ranked #10 for a period. In 2005, they won 37 games then matched the total in 2007. UCSD set a school record with 43 wins (against 18 losses) in 2008.

O'Brien led the Tritons to a 41-15 record in 2009, when they made it to the 2009 Division II College World Series, their first trip to the Series. They had the top fielding percentage in the country in both 2008 and 2009. Through 2009, O'Brien was 358-260-1 as a head coach and the all-time UC San Diego leader in wins.

UCSD was even better in 2010, shattering the school win record by going 51-7 and to the 2010 Division II College World Series. He was 42-15 in 2011 to finish his UCSD tenure at 451-282-1.

O'Brien was then hired to coach Santa Clara University for 2012, replacing another O'Brien, Mark. He went 128-194 in six seasons, producing a second-round draft pick in 2016, the highest SCU pick in a couple decades.

Source: UCSD bio