WITH DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS STEVE O'BRIEN

by Scot Gladstone

For those who haven’t met you yet, could you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Most recently from San Jose, CA, I ran cross-country at Santa Clara University where I was a history and economics major. I parlayed my undergraduate degree with a law degree from the University of Southern California’s Gould School of Law. After briefly practicing law as a transactional finance and real estate attorney, I embarked on my career in college athletic administration about 17 years ago, with the goal of becoming a Director of Athletics. Along the way, I married my wife, Julianne, also a cross-country runner at Santa Clara University, but a much smarter one, as she is a civil engineer. We have been blessed with two boys, John (7) and James (4, but insists he’s 7 too).

Why Saint Martin’s? Why Division II (DII)?

As I began to do my due diligence, not only did I reach the conclusion that so many people inside of Saint Martin’s circles will tell you “that this university is a best kept secret”, but I also realized that the school, its leadership, and the overall opportunity really aligned well with my own values, my professional experience and my career objective of leading an intercollegiate athletics program for a mission-driven institution.

In terms of DII, I found the genuine commitment to amateurism, a student-athlete model, the emphasis on maintaining balance and stability, and the opportunity to achieve competitive success within the Great Northwest Athletic Conference to be particularly compelling.

The Saints community was excited to welcome Steve O'Brien to campus in early October. O’Brien comes to Saint Martin’s with over twenty years of external relations experience and sixteen years of experience working in higher education for various athletic programs.

Scot Gladstone, assistant athletic director, recently sat down with Steve for a quick Q&A.

What are your current top priorities?

It boils down to three things: 1) Meeting the many different members and constituent groups, internally and externally, that comprise the Saint Martin’s University community, listening to and learning from their perspectives; 2) identifying where we may be best positioned for growth; and 3) keeping our current trains running on time. In that respect, I’m incredibly fortunate to be supported by a team of fellow athletic administrators who make this department run smoothly. Chris Gregor, Isaac Thompkins, Scot Gladstone and Emily Podowicz have been so helpful bringing me up to speed and continuing to deliver for our student-athletes, coaches, and fans. I’m extremely thankful that they are all on this team.

Can you tell us your favorite sports movies?

Chariots of Fire and Hoosiers.

What are you most looking forward to?

Getting to the point where we can make informed decisions about pursuing opportunities to “grow”, then demonstrating our proof of concept and finally scaling the work so as to realize Saints’ athletics’ full potential 1) as a partner to the campus in the furtherance of our Catholic Benedictine mission; 2) in our competitive success and associated contribution to the GNAC, NCAA DII, and regional sports market; and 3) in our commitment to provide our student-athletes with a well-rounded experience here and a foundation that will support their professional success with transferable skills after they graduate. u