Staff Directory

Kevin O'Brien

Title:
Head Soccer Coach
Email:
Phone:
662-325-2722

THE O'BRIEN FILE

Hometown: Atlanta, Ga.
College: College of Charleston, 1995

h1>COACHING EXPERIENCE

2026-present:
Mississippi State, Head Coach
2012-25:
Lipscomb, Head Coach
2009-11:
Davidson College (Men), Associate Head Coach
2002-08:
Charlotte (Men), Assistant Coach
2000-01:
Oregon State (Men), Assistant Coach
1997-99:
Creighton (Men), Assistant Coach
1996:
Presbyterian (Men), Assistant Coach

h1>O'BRIEN'S PLAYERS BY THE NUMBERS

5 Conference Players of the Year
5 Conference Goalkeepers of the Year
4 Conference Freshmen of the Year
2 United Soccer Coaches All-Americans
27 United Soccer Coaches All-Region Selections
68 All-Conference Selections
39 First Team All-Conference Selections
16 Conference All-Freshman Team Selections
2 CSC Academic All-Americans
6 Conference Scholar-Athletes of the Year

LIPSCOMB HIGHLIGHTS

Winningest coach in program history (155)
7 ASUN Regular Season Championships
5 ASUN Tournament Championships
5 NCAA Tournament Appearances
2 NCAA Tournament Victories

O'BRIEN'S YEAR-BY-YEAR OVERALL RECORD

Year	School	W-L-T	Pct.
2012	Lipscomb	2-11-4	.235
2013	Lipscomb	6-8-5	.447
2014	Lipscomb	10-7-2	.579
2015	Lipscomb	12-4-4	.700
2016	Lipscomb	12-5-2	.684
2017	Lipscomb	9-7-3	.553
2018	Lipscomb	15-5-2	.727
2019	Lipscomb	13-6-2	.667
2020-21	Lipscomb	7-3-2	.667
2021	Lipscomb	15-5-1	.738
2022	Lipscomb	11-5-3	.658
2023	Lipscomb	14-5-1	.725
2024	Lipscomb	14-4-4	.727
2025	Lipscomb	15-6-2	.696
2026	Mississippi State	0-0-0	--

School	Years	Record	Pct.
Lipscomb	14	155-81-37	.636
Mississippi State	1	0-0-0	--
Total	15	155-81-37	.636

O'BRIEN'S YEAR-BY-YEAR CONFERENCE RECORD

Year	School	W-L-T	Pct.
2012	Lipscomb	0-7-2	.111
2013	Lipscomb	3-3-3	.500
2014	Lipscomb	4-2-1	.643
2015	Lipscomb	6-1-0	.857
2016	Lipscomb	5-1-1	.786
2017	Lipscomb	5-1-1	.786
2018	Lipscomb	7-1-0	.875
2019	Lipscomb	6-1-1	.812
2020-21	Lipscomb	6-0-2	.875
2021	Lipscomb	7-2-0	.778
2022	Lipscomb	8-1-1	.850
2023	Lipscomb	10-0-1	.955
2024	Lipscomb	7-1-3	.773
2025	Lipscomb	7-2-1	.750
2026	Mississippi State	0-0-0	--

School	Years	Record	Pct.
Lipscomb	14	81-23-17	.748
Mississippi State	1	0-0-0	--
Total	15	81-23-17	.748

Kevin O'Brien was named the eighth head soccer coach in Mississippi State history on Dec. 7, 2025, after a 14-year tenure at Lipscomb that saw him win five ASUN Coach of the Year awards while guiding the Bisons to 12 combined ASUN Regular Season and Tournament championships.

The veteran coach has been a model of consistency over his 30-year coaching career, which includes 14 years as women's head coach and 16 years as an assistant coach in the men’s game. In that span, the teams he has been part of have posted a winning record in 25 seasons and reached eight NCAA Tournaments, including one Elite Eight appearance while at Creighton.

He left Lipscomb as the winningest coach in program history while amassing a career record of 155-81-37. His final game with the Bisons was a tightly-contested, one-goal match to eventual 2025 national finalist No. 6 Florida State.

Over his final 12 seasons in Nashville, O’Brien’s Bisons have finished every season with a winning record and a positive goal differential. His teams posted goal differentials of at least plus-20 in five of his final six years with only the shortened 2020-21 season as the exception, and the 2024 squad posted a school-record plus-32 differential.

His players have amassed an impressive collection of ASUN honors over the last decade-plus including five Player of the Year and five Goalkeeper of the Year awards as well as four Freshman of the Year honors. Sixty-eight Bisons have been named to all-conference teams, including 39 first team selections and 16 all-freshman team recognitions.

In addition to the program’s on-field success, O’Brien instilled academic excellence among his players. The Bisons have collected 37 academic all-conference honors in his tenure and earned six ASUN Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards. Additionally, Olivia Doak was named the conference’s Student-Athlete of the Year across all sports for the 2019-20 academic year.

Before his arrival in Nashville, O’Brien’s career had been spent exclusively on men’s soccer staffs. He spent three years at Davidson as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator. He was on staff when the Wildcats upset eventual 2011 national champion North Carolina, handing the Tar Heels their only regulation loss of the year. He bore witness to three additional ranked wins and saw the Wildcats sign three top-150 recruits in his tenure.

He played a key role on staff at Charlotte for six seasons from 2002-08 while the 49ers went 33-18-8. O’Brien was the recruiting coordinator on those staffs under four-time national championship coach Jeremy Gunn, who is now leading the Stanford program. O’Brien helped build the 49ers roster that would later reach the Men’s College Cup in 2011 while he was at Davidson. His coaching career began at Presbyterian College and saw him make stops at Creighton and Oregon State as well.

As a player, O’Brien captained the College of Charleston, leading the Cougars to two NCAA Tournament appearances, an Elite Eight run and multiple top-20 national rankings. A two-time All-Conference and All-South Region honoree, he still holds the ASUN men's soccer record for most career games played (85).

He enjoyed an eight-year professional career in the USL with the Charleston Battery and Charlotte Eagles. He captained the Eagles for both the 2003 and 2004 campaigns.

O'Brien holds a USSF "A" License and the NSCAA Advanced National Diploma. He spent seven years coaching in the North Carolina Olympic Development Program (ODP) and won the 2006 ODP Boy’s National Championship before again reaching the finals in 2007.

O’Brien will be joined by his wife, Shannon, who competed collegiately on the Arizona women’s soccer team. The couple has a daughter, Keely, and a son, Keegan. Keely played her freshman yearon the Bisons roster in her father’s final season at Lipscomb under his leadership.