O’Brien out indefinitely

Richard Dunn

Former Orange Coast College and Estancia High basketball coach Tim

O’Brien, now the boys basketball coach at Northwood High, underwent

emergency aorta surgery earlier this week and is recovering in the

intensive care unit at UC Irvine Medical Center, Northwood Athletic

Director Rick Curtis said Thursday night.

“We were actually holding our breath on that one,” Curtis said of

the six-hour surgery late Monday night, in which doctors successfully

replaced a damaged part of the aorta, the heart’s largest artery that

carries blood to the body.

O’Brien is not expected to be released from the hospital until

Tuesday or Wednesday, then will be confined to his home for about six

weeks.

“They don’t know what caused it,” Curtis said. “Tim’s in great

physical condition. He runs and jogs and lifts weights all the time.

Of all the people on our campus, you wouldn’t think it would happen

to him. He’s almost chiseled out of stone. He takes good care of

himself -- more so than I do. So it’s real shocking. He’s a high

intensity guy.”

O’Brien, 48, will be out indefinitely. There is no timetable for

his return to the Timberwolves’ bench. Curtis, also a close friend,

said the focus is on O’Brien’s health. Assistant coaches Kenny Keup

and Derek Roche are conducting practices and will share head coaching

duties for the time being. Keup has followed O’Brien throughout his

coaching career, including at Estancia and Orange Coast.

“We really haven’t pursued what we’re going to do. We’ll wait

until Tim gets his idea across with what he’d like to see happen,”

Curtis said. “We don’t want to jump the gun without Tim’s input.

We’re going real slow ... we’re hopeful that Tim’s able to come back,

but it’s up to the doctors and what’s best for him and his family.”

Curtis reported that O’Brien’s wife, Susan, and two children are

receiving support from the community with meals. O’Brien reportedly

was suffering abdominal pain last week, and when the pain increased

Sunday and tests were conducted, doctors discovered a tear in one of

the layers of the aorta.

“People think so highly of him,” Curtis said. “He’s always at the

school. He’s Northwood basketball, but he follows all the other

sports. He’s there all the time. He’s a big part of our school. He’s

been there since the beginning (in the fall of 1999).”

O’Brien left Orange Coast after seven seasons to take over the new

program at Northwood, which is three blocks from his Irvine home. The

move allowed him to spend more time with his family, while securing

full-time teaching and coaching at the same spot. O’Brien was a

physical education teacher at TeWinkle Junior High School in Costa

Mesa and a walk-on coach at Orange Coast.

The Pirates were 93-119 under O’Brien, including a 21-11 season in

1995-96, the school’s best finish since the state championship season

in 1978-79.

O’Brien’s success at Estancia included a CIF State Division III

championship in 1991, a CIF Southern Section III-AA title in ’90 and

CIF section title-game appearances in ’91 and ’92. Estancia won two

league titles in O’Brien’s five-year span and compiled a 110-42

record. In two years at Northwood, O’Brien has earned a 44-12 mark.

The Timberwolves reached the semifinals of the CIF Division IV-A

Playoffs in 2001.