Shannon O’Brien enters his second year as a member of the Warriors coaching staff. O’Brien has coached football at the high school, college, and professional level throughout a more than 30 year coaching career. He is a 1985 graduate of Maryville College and holds a BA in Physical Education as well as a Med in Education Administration and Supervision from Lincoln Memorial University.
O’Brien’s college coaching experience includes a season at University of Minnesota, Austin Peay State University, and University of North Alabama respectively. From 1988-1992, he was an Assistant Coach at Maryville College. Following his tenure at Maryville, O’Brien served as an Assistant Coach for Kent State University’s football team from 1992-1994 and then served as the Defensive Graduate Assistant Coach at University of Tennessee. He spent the next 26 years coaching at the high school level across Florida, Mississippi, and Tennessee. In 2019, he served as the Head Football Coach for Armia Poznan-LFA1 Polish/American Football Club. He returned to Poland again in the spring of 2022 as the Head Football Coach for Armia Poznan.
Throughout his playing and coaching careers, O’Brien has received a number of honors which include:
1984-1985 “J.D.” Davis Award Winner Maryville College’s “Outstanding Senior Athlete”
1983 and 1984 Permanent Football Team Captain at Maryville College
1995 and 1996 National Football Foundation Tampa Chapter Coaching Staff of the Year, Armwood High School
1996 and 1997 Western Conference Boys Track Coach of the Year Armwood High School
O’Brien was also a participant in the 1985 Independence Bowl with University of Minnesota and the 1994 Gator Bowl with University of Tennessee. He was the Offensive Coordinator for the 2000 FHSAA North/South Shrine Bowl and he was named as the offensive Coordinator for the 2005 and 2006 AXA Liberty Bowl High School All-Star Football Game. O’Brien also led St. Patrick High School’s Girl’s Track team to a 3A state title in 2011.
Both of his sons, Shane and Sean, played football at Hendrix.
