Veteran coach Tom O'Brien retires

Virginia assistant Tom O'Brien is retiring after a 40-year coaching career, the school announced Tuesday.

O'Brien, who just finished his second year on the Cavaliers' staff as associate head coach for offense and tight ends coach, formerly served as the head coach at North Carolina State for six years and Boston Collegefor 10 seasons.

"I want to thank Mike London for giving me the opportunity to come back and coach at Virginia," O'Brien, 66, said of the Cavaliers' head coach in a release. "It is a great university, and I have a lot of wonderful memories from my time here with him and with Coach [George] Welsh.

"I would be remiss if I did not thank the most important people in my life -- my wife, Jennifer, and our children Colleen, Daniel and Bridget. They were very loving and supportive throughout this entire journey. Through thick and thin, they were always there for me."

A Naval Academy graduate, O'Brien coached at his alma mater under Welsh before joining him for O'Brien's first stint at Virginia, where he was an assistant for 15 years.

From there, he took the head-coaching job at Boston College from 1997 to 2006, becoming the winningest coach in Eagles history at 75-45.

He had a 40-35 record in six seasons at NC State.

"It's been a pleasure to reunite with Tom the last two seasons," London said. "... He was a great mentor when I was on his staff at Boston College and someone I respect tremendously. His retirement is a loss for college football.

"Tom is a coach who has always done things the right way, stood by his principles and instilled great values in the players he has coached. He's done all of that while being very successful."