Kevin O’Brien, the longtime athletic director and three-time boys basketball state champion coach at Merrimack Valley, will retire at the conclusion of the school year.
O’Brien has been affiliated with the MV school district since 1985, when he volunteered as an assistant boys’ basketball coach. He was promoted as the head coach for the boys’ varsity program and from 1987-2002, under his guidance, the program won three state titles (1989, ’90, ’93). The Pride finished as runners-up in 1991.
He had a brief second stint at the helm from 2013-15.
In total, O’Brien won 255 games, his last on February 20, 2015.
The Pride never missed the playoffs in all 17 of his seasons, part of the recipe that earned him five divisional Coach of the Year Awards and a one-time recipient of the New England Coach of the Year award in 1991.
He took on the role of athletic director at the beginning of the 1994 school year and has since seen success, winning such accolades as athletic director of the year four times, most recently in 2016. Since 2008, O’Brien has also served as the President of the Division II Athletic Directors, part of the New Hampshire Athletic Directors Association.
O’Brien was inducted into MV’s second Hall of Fame class in 2019. Other inductees included Dave Huckins and the entire 1989 boys basketball team.
O’Brien will finish out the school year at MV and will spend his last spring as the school’s varsity softball coach, a position he’s held since 2021.
His last day as athletic director is June 30.