Chris O’Brien enters his 10th season as head men’s and women’s tennis coach at Connecticut College in 2019-20.
In 2015-2016, O’Brien directed the women’s program to an 11-10 overall mark and its first winning campaign since 2007. The women also recently registered a thrilling, 5-4 comeback victory over No. 28 Trinity and ended the 2017-18 season on a high note by winning three of the program’s final four matches.
In 2014-15, the men’s squad posted a six-match winning streak in the month of March and the women tripled their win total from the previous season by most notably posting victories over Bates and Colby at the end of the spring.
Prior to his arrival at Connecticut College, O’Brien spent six years as the head men’s and women’s tennis coach at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island. He helped lead the women’s program to back-to-back appearances in the 2007 and 2008 NCAA Tournaments as well as the men’s team to the second round of NCAAs in 2009.
In addition, O’Brien served as the Director of Student Advocacy at Roger Williams. In this position, he directed the peer mentoring program for incoming freshman. He also managed the Student Advocacy Office, taught a first-year seminar and academic probation class for freshmen, and directed a leadership program for underrepresented students. For his efforts, O’Brien was named the Unsung Hero for Enrollment Management.
Before joining the staff at Roger Williams, O’Brien spent six years as the head men’s tennis coach at the University of Rochester and guided the teams to NCAA Tournament appearances from 2001-03. He also served as the Yellow Jacket men’s squash coach for three years and the mentor for the women’s squash club program from 2002-03.
O’Brien earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Rochester in 1993 as well as a master’s degree in physical therapy from Nazareth College.
