Meet The Team
Head Coach Tim O'Brien
Revered as one of the best College Rugby Coaches, Tim O'Brien has been a volunteer coach for the past 16 years at Saint Mary's College. He has allowed for Saint Mary's to compete at the highest level year after year while touching all of his players’ lives in a positive way. O’Brien’s dedication to his craft and to his players has led to spectacular results. The Gaels have made it to the D1A National Championship five years straight, from 2013-2017 and again in 2022. In addition to winning back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015, Saint Mary’s also won the D1A National 7s Championship in 2016 under head coach Tim O'Brien.
O’Brien’s career started with the Palo Alto Rugby Club as a 17-year-old. When he moved onto the collegiate level, he took his talents and excelled at Cal Berkeley. As team captain, he led the Golden Bears to consecutive national championships in 1980 and 1981. At a national level, O’Brien played for the elite U.S. Eagles from 1980-1983, the United States of America on both the 7s and 15s sides. In 2017, Tim was inducted into the USA Rugby Hall of Fame.
