Former 49ers A.D. loses cancer fight
Former Long Beach State athletic director Dave O'Brien has died.
By Bob Keisser | Orange County Register
Dave O'Brien's tenure as Long Beach State's athletic director wasn't as long as others who held the position, but his numerous accomplishments, and one painful decision, were without question long-lasting.
O'Brien, who was 49ers' athletic director from 1991 to 1996, died Saturday of cancer.
Services will take place in Pennsylvania, where he relocated after leaving Long Beach.
He was just 35 when he was named interim athletic director in September 1991 and pushed into the crosshairs of the football issue on campus. Before the year was over, football would be dropped because of financial issues.
O'Brien lamented the decision but said that continuing to fund football would have a dire effect on the rest of the athletic program.
"We do not want to compromise our commitment to field teams which can compete for conference and national championships," he said in 1991. "Continuing to prolong an unrealistic dream of being competitive at the Division I-A level in football, at the very real expense of mediocrity in other sports, simply does not make sense."
That became O'Brien's mandate as athletic director. He assumed control of the then-incipient plans to build a new athletic facility on campus – the Pyramid – and took a lead role in fundraising when construction costs exceeded the amount provided by the state.
He also created a targeted sports model that guaranteed 100 percent funding for six teams – men's and women's basketball, men's and women's volleyball, and baseball and softball – despite the state being in a recession. He also negotiated a deal with the city to make Blair Field the home for baseball.
"Dave had a great sense of enthusiasm and a positive outlook that was hard to match," women's volleyball coach Brian Gimmillaro said Monday. "There was a sense of trust in him by everyone, from the school president to the coaches.
"He was a financial wizard. He inherited a lot of tough spots financially because of the recession, but he kept pressing forward to find answers to these problems."
Memorial contributions can be made to the Michael O'Brien Memorial Fund – in honor of his son, who died in 1997 at the age of 9 in a car crash – care of First Niagara Bank, 1017 N. Bethlehem Pike, Ambler, PA 19002.
Contact the writer: bkeisser@lbregister.com
Bob Keisser