Catching up with ... Tim O’Brien

Barry Faulkner

In quiet moments -- sitting behind the wheel at the one stop light

between his home and Northwood High, where he teaches and coaches boys

basketball, or when the kids are in bed -- Tim O’Brien selfishly longs

for the continued health and happiness of his family.

Everything else, he already has covered.

“My family life is wonderful,” said O’Brien, a former Estancia High

and Orange Coast College coach who, at 46, has jump stopped into an

enviable existence. “My son (10-year-old Christopher) is the water boy,

my daughter (6-year-old Devyn) was in the cheerleading clinic and my wife

(Susan) is doing well. If I ever complain, someone ought to slap me.”

O’Brien’s Hallmark card of a life also includes a professional passion

he claims can’t be called work.

“This place (the Northwood campus in Irvine, which opened two years

ago) is a palace. And, after coaching at Coast, I really appreciate what

high school basketball is all about. I’m absolutely content and I’m not

going anywhere. Someone is going to have to make me retire.”

O’Brien, though a long way from Social Security, brought more than two

decades of coaching experience to his current gig. Before leading

Estancia to the CIF State Division III championship in 1991, a season

after the Eagles won CIF Southern Section Division 3-AA, O’Brien had

already coached at high schools in Pennsylvania, Arizona and California

(Tustin).

He followed five seasons at Estancia (compiling a 110-42 record) with

seven somewhat frustrating years at OCC. Things didn’t go so well on the

court (93-119) and his hopes of erasing his walk-on status never

materialized. So, with a new high school opening up a mile from his home,

he pursued the job, was hired, and set about building a program from the

hardwood up.

“It was like buying a new home,” O’Brien said. “You walk in and all

you see are white walls and bare floors. Everything else, was up to me.”

After a guiding the Timberwolves through a junior varsity schedule

last year, O’Brien, sans seniors, returned to the varsity ranks this

season. And, to the surprise of no one familiar with his ample coaching

skills, the Timberwolves are guaranteed a spot in the section playoffs.

O’Brien is thankful for his community college experience, but he

doesn’t miss the aspects of the job that took away from his time teaching

the game.

“You have to coach a lot more at the high-school level,” O’Brien, who

teaches health and weight training classes, said. “And, I think there’s

more enthusiasm and loyalty from the players. I like to use the old

phrase ‘the kids play for the sweater.’ ”

O’Brien said he recalls fondly his time at Estancia, particularly his

state championship team, the only state champion in Newport-Mesa District

basketball history (boys or girls). But, while still hungry to recapture

that kind of ultimate success, it’s the means, not the end, that pull him

out of bed every morning.

“The best part about coaching is the chase,” he said. “Even when I

think back on those good teams at Estancia, my memories are about the

chase. Winning state was fun, don’t get me wrong, and I’d love to get

back there again. But I think about the preparation, the long road trips

in the playoffs, the nervousness before a game, staying up all night

worrying about my game plan. Those are all part of the chase.”

While many expect Northwood to become a powerhouse program, O’Brien

confesses no grand vision for the future.

“I’ve never been one to talk about winning the league or this and

that,” O’Brien said. “I just want us to continue to work hard, do things

right and have integrity. If you’re doing all that, it’s going to pay

off.”