In Memoriam: Ken O’Brien

AMHERST, Mass. - Ken O'Brien, men's cross country and track and field coach emeritus and former head coach at the University of Massachusetts, passed away Monday at the age of 82.

"When someone that has had over a half century of impact on people passes, it is hard to fathom, and impossible to wrap words around that type of loss," said director of track and field and cross country David Jackson. "As a mentor, coach and leader 'Coach OB' was awesome. He allowed you to grow and gently guided you to understand the paths to success. Coach did so via sport, education, or chatting over a cup of coffee and a chocolate chip cookie. The passion for sport, our sport, and the people that were lucky enough to be coached by him understood. They had become a part of the UMass cross country and track & field family. Most importantly, they became a part of his family. Coach OB was a 50-year pillar of the success and legacy of this program. As we approach a men's program that's well over 100 years old and a women's program that is turning 50, his presence and impact cannot be refuted. Thank you for being a coach to all. I hope you are resting and getting ready to coach the next crop of heavenly athletes. You, sir, will never be forgotten!"

"It is with great sadness that we mourn the loss of a UMass coaching legend and Hall of Famer," said director of athletics Ryan Bamford. "Ken's contributions to his alma mater, his home state and the Amherst community may never be replicated. As our head coach for 50 years, he had a lasting influence on the lives of thousands of student-athletes. Helping young people was his life's work and he excelled in innumerable ways. Our thoughts are with his family at this time."

In O'Brien's 50 seasons coaching cross country and track and field at UMass from 1967-2016, the Minutemen won 19 conference titles (Yankee, Eastern and Atlantic 10), four New England crowns, two IC4A titles and he mentored 13 individual NCAA qualifiers seven All-America performers.

O'Brien was instrumental in the founding of the UMass women's cross country and track and field programs and served as head coach of those programs from their inception in 1975-76 through 1987.

Following the 2008 cross country season, O'Brien was named Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year for a second time, as the Minutemen finished first in the league. It was the second-ever Minutemen A-10 Cross Country title, the first coming in 1995 when he earned his first coach of the year recognition.

In 1999, O'Brien was named NCAA District 1 Track and Field Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season, and the fourth time he won the award in track and field to go along with District 1 Coach of the Year honors for cross country on four different occasions.

He was inducted into the UMass Athletics Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2016.

A long-time contributor to the sport of track and field, O'Brien served numerous regional and national associations. He served as secretary of the NCAA Cross Country Coaches Association from 1975-80, was president of the IC4A coaches association and was re-selected to the coaching staff of the National Olympic Development Distance Runners Training Center at Lake Placid, N.Y.

O'Brien started his first full-time coaching job at the University of Bridgeport (Conn.) in the fall of 1965. Nine months later he guided the program that had never scored a single point in the Collegiate Track Conference Meet to a second-place team finish. He returned to his alma mater in 1966 and served as an assistant coach for 18 months under Bill Footrick before taking over as head coach.

While an undergrad at UMass, O'Brien won six letters in cross country and track. He competed as a top performer on a cross country squad that won three consecutive Yankee Conference titles and the 1961 New England championship. An outstanding competitor in track and field, his 1:52:70 conference half-mile record remained unbroken for 10 years.

O'Brien, the co-recipient of the ECAC Merit Award in 1963 to the outstanding student-athlete at UMass, graduated with honors from the school of physical education in the same year.

Upon graduation, he served two years as a graduate assistant coach at Ohio University. He worked under the legendary coach, and member of the Track and Field Hall of Fame, Stan Huntsman, earning his Master's degree in 1964 from the Athens, Ohio, institution.

"Coach Ken O'Brien became a genuine legend over the 50-plus years at the helm of his beloved UMass cross country / track & field programs. Ken's mentorship and coaching made an incredible impact on thousands of athletes over the years who were fortunate to be coached by this incredible man. His high standards, dedication and commitment to his athletes went above and beyond wins and losses as he did what was best for each athlete at that time in their lives. It was a privilege to have Coach OB as my college coach, mentor and colleague for 38 years while at UMass. My thoughts are with Claudia and Kristen for their heartbreaking loss of Ken. RIP Coach, they don't make many like you anymore." - Julie Lafreniere, Class of 1977, Retired Head Coach, UMass Women's Cross Country/Track & Field

"While watching Paul Newman star in Cool Hand Luke during my summer orientation prior to my freshman year, I decided that I would like to try to walk on to the men's cross country team. Around my second or third day on campus for the new school year, I figured I should attempt to determine when and where the men's practices would start, so I walked to Boyden Gym, and starting on the top floor where there were some awesome basketball courts, I made my way through many corridors until I came to OB's office (being non-recruited I had no idea who the coach was). His door was closed but there was a sign indicating practice would begin the next day at 3:00 on the Boyden fields. So deciding to skip my 3:00 class, I showed up at 2:45 and sat on the stairs wearing my FHS white tee shirt, heavy red cotton shorts and a pair of NB shoes with the soles literally falling off. Around 3:15 this gentleman came walking out of the tunnel onto the fields, turned and faced us. He had a full cast on his left arm and he said that he had broken his arm the previous day while sliding into first base in a game of softball. I was REALLY impressed with that. For the next 50-plus years my admiration for coach grew exponentially. While training, racing, golfing, banqueting, etc. with him, his presence made me want to be a better person. We have lost a great man in body, but his spirit will live on for many years to come." - Randy Thomas, Class of 1975, UMass Hall of Fame 1982

"OB had a significant impact on my life. While he certainly got the most out of my running abilities, which set me up for a lifetime of running and racing; this is not what I will remember most about Coach. Rather, it is the life lessons he taught me. Work hard, respect everyone, be a good teammate, adversity is just another obstacle to overcome. These are the lessons I have tried to use every day since graduation. Denise and I will miss him a lot; as will my children and grandchildren. Even though they never knew Coach, they have all benefited tremendously from my near lifetime friendship with such a great man." – Peter Bloom, Class of 1978

University of Massachusets Athletics

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