Marine Officer - Tom O'Brien

<span> <p> <img style="float: none;" src="http://assets2.marines.com/assetmgr/image/disp/inline/size/460x259/id/4356" alt="Tom O'Brien <br /> College Football Coach<br /> Former Marine Officer" /><h2>Committing to the Corps</h2>Obrien1Decision :56<br /> <br /> Tom O´Brien:<br /> I graduated from high school and ended up going to the Naval Academy. That was a great experience, certainly a great place for me. And, you know, my best friends in life are the guys I played football with and had friendships with at the Naval Academy. <br /> <br /> Our service selection day was either the end of January or the end of February and I chose Marines. And you know, about that time the other services were joining everybody else. You know, the Marine Corps was still the Marine Corps. You know, words like Commitment and Honor and Courage, their values were still important and always will be important to the Marine Corps.<br /> <br /> I remember the song at that time was "We Never Promised You a Rose Garden." That was one of their theme songs. One of their mottos was, "It´s hard to be humble when you´re the best." And so all those things played into what their values were to make me want to be part of their service.<br /> <hr /><h2>Service at the U.S. Naval Academy</h2>Obrien2Being :57<br /> <br /> Tom O´Brien:<br /> I enjoyed my time at The Basic School. There´s only about three or four of us from the academy in the class, which was nice. So, you know, we got to be with, with not a lot of our classmates but with a great cross-section of fellow guys that believed the same things that we did. <br /> <br /> I played football in the last Marine team. So, I haven´t played football at the academy-they asked me to stay, I did. I ended up going to California for two years, or 18 months, was in Iwakuni, Japan, for a year. And then had orders back to Cherry Point and at that point, the Naval Academy called and asked me if I wanted to come back and be part of the staff `cause they always had a Marine Officer assigned to the football staff. You know our whole mission at the Naval Academy is to recruit others to be Marine Officers. So, you know, that was a good thing. You know, certainly each year, football players from the academy are joining up and wanting to be part of the Marines because of that Marine Officer that´s signed to the staff.<br /> <hr /><h2>Selflessness and Mental Toughness</h2>Obrien3LifeLessons 1:05<br /> <br /> Tom O´Brien:<br /> I don´t know if you ever leave the Marines. And the Marines certainly never leave you. And, you know, I think that´s what´s great about the organization. I think somewhere your life may take a different turn, but those core sense of values that you have, I don´t think ever leave and certainly, you know, there´s no such thing as an ex-Marine. <br /> <br /> The things you learn in the Marine Corps go with you through life. And I think the thing I got out of the Marine Corps most was the idea of selflessness. When you´re taught that the whole is better than the individual and you believe in that, which most people do, then the idea of selflessness and the person in front of you, behind you, to your right or left is more important to you. You know, that´s something I certainly use today with my football team and everything that I do. You know, sitting in a team meeting, you know, there´s a guy behind you or in front of you, to your right or left, more important [than] you and until he is, we´re not gonna be a championship football team. <br /> <br /> The lessons I´ve brought from the Marine Corps would have to do with toughness. I think, you know, one thing the Marines are, are mentally tough. And that´s one thing you have to be in order to be successful in almost anything that you do and especially a sport like football. <br /> <hr /><h2>Coaching Football Like a Marine</h2>Obrien4CorpsFootball 1:40<br /> <br /> Tom O´Brien:<br /> I think that football players transition easy into the Marine Corps. Football is a pretty disciplined, organized sport. Each day there´s a structure to the day and, you know, I think that benefits them as they go into the Marine Corps `cause they already understand time management, they understand organization, they understand being at a place at the right time, at the right place and how to get there. And so I think a lot of those things that, that may fluster others as they join the Marine organization will not fluster athletes.<br /> <br /> One of the things that the Marine Corps breeds is character. I mean you can learn to be selfless. You can learn to have moral courage. You can learn to choose the hard right over the easy wrong. You know, a lot of things that you have to do to be part of the Marine Corps organization or a lot of things that, that are common in athletic teams and, and good athletic teams and good athletes. So, I think you´ll find that common bond between people that, that compete and, you know, in the Marine Corps you´re always competing.<br /> <br /> You know, I´ve never pushed anyone on my football team to be a Marine. Now, if they come up and talk to me, which they have, we, you know, we can have a nice long discussion and talk about things. And I think, you know, that´s the best way to do it. You know, you go back to what is leadership and the best way to be a leader is have people wanna do things, not tell `em what to do and, and order `em to do things. So, you lead your life in such a way that people respect you, they understand who and what you are and what you did, and maybe in some way shape or form might one day wanna follow the same path that you did.<br /> <hr /> </p> </span>

The Marines are mentally tough, and that’s one thing you have to be, to be successful in almost anything that you do.
—Tom O'Brien

Commissioned: 1971
Years of Service: 9
Years of Reserve Service: 4
Commissioning Program: U.S. Naval Academy
Education: U.S. Naval Academy
Current Title: Head Coach, North Carolina State Football

Football players are often drawn to the Marine Corps, and for Coach Tom O’Brien this makes perfect sense: the discipline and teamwork they develop as athletes help prepare them to face the challenges of becoming a Marine. Coach O’Brien knows this firsthand—during his service as a Marine Officer, he played on the Marine team and later coached at the U.S. Naval Academy.

O’Brien retired from the Marine Corps in 1980 to coach college football full-time, but he maintains a strong sense of service to community and country. He’s a member of the national board of directors for the Marine Corps Reserve’s Toys for Tots program, and volunteers with several other Marine organizations. He organizes volunteer projects for his players as well, and expects them to step up as champions “in the classroom, in the community and on the field.”

Marines. The Few. The Proud.

Tom O'Brien
College Football Coach
Former Marine Officer

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Marines. The Few. The Proud.

Tom O'Brien College Football Coach Former Marine Officer

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Tom O'Brien
College Football Coach
Former Marine Officer