Coaches / Head coach / Tom O'Brien
Career
70
not coaching now
Rating—recent
Peak66best 5 yrs
Career70whole career
confidence
Tom O'Brien
Head coach, 1997–2012
Headline rating: as head coach. Every role he has been rated in is below.
Chemistry
—
index in development
Seasons here—
Programs2
Stints2
Career path
Head-coaching stints since 1936; assistant roles since 2016
As head coach
Rating—Peak66Career70
1997–2012 · 16 seasonsRecord 115-80National titles 0Great seasons 0 (top ~7% of all teams that year)
- Rating 66: his whole career, recent seasons weighted most, measured as how far his teams stood above their era, crediting him with half of what each program already was when he arrived (about the share that, historically, follows a coach to his next job), fading as the program becomes his own.
- Peak 66: best five-season stretch, 2001–2005 at Boston College (43-19), taking over an average program.
- Career 70 (#188 since 1936): total accomplishment over 16 seasons (115-80), 0 national titles, 0 elite seasons; full credit for the program he inherited.
Rating = who he is: his whole head-coaching career (since 1936), weighted toward recent years — how far his teams stood above their contemporaries, how much he lifted programs, his great seasons and titles. Form = the last two seasons. Career = the all-time ranking number.
| Season | Team | Record | Season rank | vs contemporaries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | NC State | 7-5 | #64 | -0.09 SD |
| 2011 | NC State | 8-5 | #61 | -0.04 SD |
| 2010 | NC State | 9-4 | #22 | +0.97 SD |
| 2009 | NC State | 5-7 | #71 | -0.20 SD |
| 2008 | NC State | 6-7 | #54 | +0.14 SD |
| 2007 | NC State | 5-7 | #77 | -0.47 SD |
| 2006 | Boston College | 9-3 | #24 | +0.95 SD |
| 2005 | Boston College | 9-3 | #18 | +1.03 SD |
| 2004 | Boston College | 9-3 | #40 | +0.43 SD |
| 2003 | Boston College | 8-5 | #39 | +0.51 SD |
| 2002 | Boston College | 9-4 | #25 | +0.82 SD |
| 2001 | Boston College | 8-4 | #17 | +1.01 SD |
| 2000 | Boston College | 7-5 | #31 | +0.61 SD |
| 1999 | Boston College | 8-4 | #57 | +0.02 SD |
| 1998 | Boston College | 4-7 | #51 | +0.04 SD |
| 1997 | Boston College | 4-7 | #86 | -0.83 SD |
Season rank = his team among all major-college teams that year; vs contemporaries = how far above the average team (in standard deviations).