Tom O ' Brien ( American football ) Thomas P . O ' Brien ( born October 5 , 1948 ) is an American football coach and former player . He is currently the Associate Head Coach for Offense and Tight Ends Coach at the University of Virginia . He served as the head football coach at Boston College from 1996 to 2006 , and North Carolina State University from 2007 to 2012 , compiling a career record of 115 wins and 80 losses . Early career . After graduating from the United States Naval Academy in 1971 , O ' Brien served nine years in the Marines . During this time he began coaching as an assistant for Navy ' s plebe ( freshman ) team , then served at the Marine base in Quantico , Virginia , as well as tours of duty in California and Japan . 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 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 . Head coaching . Boston College . O ' Brien became Boston College ' 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 and West Virginia . He coached Mike Cloud to the BC all - time rushing record and first - team All - America honors . Cloud was a second - round draft pick of the Kansas City Chiefs while center Damien Woody was selected in the first round by the New England Patriot s and offensive guard Doug Brzezinski was picked in the third round by the Philadelphia Eagles . 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 ' first - round draft pick and All - American Chris Hovan , the Eagles registered impressive back - to - back - to - back wins over Syracuse , West Virginia 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 - BC ' s first bowl appearance since 1994 . The 2000 Eagles posted a record of 7 – 5 , including an impressive 31 – 17 win over Arizona State in the Aloha Bowl . A total of seven players earned All - Big East honors and offensive guard Paul Zukauskas earned first - team All - America honors . He was later chosen in the seventh round of the NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns . 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 in the Music City Bowl . A 21 – 17 victory over Notre Dame gave the Eagles two wins in three years against their archrivals . BC gave eventual national champion Miami by far its biggest scare of the entire season at Alumni Stadium 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 ) and offensive tackle Marc Colombo ( 29th , Chicago Bears ) were selected in the first round of the NFL draft , the first time two BC players were picked in the first round . Over the next few years the team posted respectable win - loss records and continued to win bowl games . In 2002 , BC went 9 – 4 and won the Motor City Bowl , 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 year 2004 would be the Eagles final campaign in the Big East , and it finished the season in a four - way tie atop the league — a year in which they closed the season ranked # 21 in both major polls . BC won eight straight postseason bowl games , the first six under O ' Brien , between 2000 to 2008 . BC ranked sixth nationally in Student - Athlete GPA for 2004 – 05 . NC State . When O ’ Brien was named head coach in December 2006 , he inherited a team that had gone 3 – 9 and lost its last seven games . In his first year , after opening the season 1 – 5 , his team pulled together and won four straight games , including a win over 18th - ranked Virginia and tough road wins at East Carolina and Miami . Despite the slow start , his first Wolfpack squad went into the season finale with a bowl bid on the line . The 2008 season will go down as one of the most rewarding of O ' Brien ' s career , as his team became the first in Atlantic Coast Conference 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 , Russell Wilson , 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 of the Big East and a third - straight win over North Carolina , 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 . Tom O ' Brien ' s squad is the first Wolfpack squad to garner nine wins since 2003 and has posted State ’ s first winning season in five years . With the Champs Sports Bowl victory over West Virginia , the 2010 squad tied the second highest win total in school history . On November 25 , 2012 , O ' Brien received notice from NC State that he had been dismissed , effective immediately . Athletic director Debbie Yow cited several reasons for making the decision . 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 runs 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 . In January 2013 , O ' Brien joined the coaching staff at Virginia as associate head coach for offense / tight ends . Personal . O ' Brien was born in Cincinnati , Ohio . He played football at St . Xavier High School , where he graduated in 1966 . He went on to play collegiate ball at the U . S . Naval Academy , distinguishing himself as a three - year starter at defensive end for the Midshipmen from 1968 - 70 . O ' Brien is active in community outreach programs and serves on the board of directors for the Marine Corps ' " Toys for Tots . " He and his wife , Jennifer , have three children . He was a major in the Marine Corps reserves . O ' Brien also owns a vacation home in South Carolina where he plans to spend his retirement after coaching . He is married to the former Jennifer Byrd of San Diego , who is on the national board of Rostro de Cristo . They are the parents of three children : Colleen Frances , a 2002 Boston College graduate who is an associate producer at ESPN ; Daniel Patrick , a 2005 BC graduate who is on the Elon football staff ; Bridget Jean , also a 2005 BC graduate who recently finished a year - long mission with the Rostro de Cristo program in Ecuador and is now a graduate student at College of Charleston .