The road to Omaha

He is a father, friend, husband and mentor.

Luckily for Virginia, Brian O’Connor is also the head coach of the best baseball team in program history.

An average guy in appearance and more importantly in demeanor, O’Connor has all but single-handedly built a national powerhouse at a school that once discussed disbanding its program.

During his six-year stint that rolls into the College World Series on Saturday against top-ranked Louisiana State University, Virginia’s skipper has reeled off 264 wins with a never-say-die mentality.

It all started in a humble abode in cozy Council Bluffs, Iowa, a place where his father raced home from work daily for family meals or practices on the diamond or hardwood.

“That’s when I became what I am,” O’Connor said. “I feel so fortunate that I was brought up in a loving family that raised myself and my brothers the right way. We were taught to treat people the right way, we are up front and honest

with people and I learned at a young age that if you are honest with people that you never have to remember what you said.”

Years before O’Connor landed the job at Virginia, he proved his worth during an impromptu meeting with current pitching coach Karl Kuhn, then a former assistant at the University of Arkansas Little Rock.

Kuhn was told to introduce himself by the head basketball coach at UALR, who attended Creighton University at the same time as O’Connor.

“It was in between games at a showcase and there were 35 to 40 coaches behind home plate and I said, ‘Which one of you dudes is Oak?’ He said, ‘I am.’ I told him my buddy said hello,” Kuhn recounted. “He got up, we talked and we got to know each other.”

Something clicked.

“What was the first thing? You are looking at a regular guy,” Kuhn said. “That’s what he is. He was at Notre Dame, a big institution, they are in regionals, super regionals and he is befriending a guy who is at Arkansas ‘Last Resort’ just because he is a regular guy.

“He doesn’t see colors, he doesn’t see big names. He sees people and he sees who you are. I think that he really respects people that are real.”

A day onto the job at Virginia in 2003, O’Connor picked up the phone to call a prized recruit headed to Virginia for a special workout.

Sean Doolittle, now with the Oakland A’s at the AAA level, answered.

A young, eager coach with a savvy swagger about himself coaxed the youngster to grab a meal and a tour around Grounds.

Who was touring whom?

“He was showing us around the university and the baseball stadium and he might have needed a map but the passion that he had from the start was unbelievable,” said Doolittle, a former ACC player of the year under O’Connor. “He tells it exactly like it is. He does not sugarcoat it. I think guys that look back on their time there are most appreciative of that.”

Doolittle, a two-way player in college, said it was the same way with associate head coach Kevin McMullan and Kuhn.

“They don’t sugarcoat anything either, but stuff like that comes from the top. It rolls downhill,” he said. “That’s the way they run their program. A lot of the time you will leave the field pissed off, you will leave the field let down but you always knew where you stood.

“Oak treated us like men. By the time we left there we were that much better for it.”

Now rising the through minor league food chain and knocking on the door of professional baseball, Doolittle has heard the horror stories about head coaches.

Happily, he does not have one to share.

“Climbing this ladder in pro ball, playing with so many guys that went to different programs, so many schools of different levels from Division I down to NAIA, I can probably count on one hand how many guys that I played with that will openly say positive things about their head coach,” Doolittle said. “The list goes on and on but I never really will be able to say a bad thing about coach O’Connor. I loved playing under him.

“I will always have that bond with him. I was the first guy that he ever picked up the phone to call. I am proud to say that with all the success that Virginia has had since he has been there.”

It was in that Midwestern town a few miles from Omaha, Neb., that O’Connor learned to take the high road.

As this season has proven for Virginia, things have a way of working themselves out.

“There is not a better job in the country. I feel that way and will continue to feel that way,” O’Connor said. “As for me, I have always enjoyed being around people and I have enjoyed creating relationships with people and I try to get that across to our players.

“Our players are not better than anybody else, they are just different. I think that is important. We wear Virginia across our uniforms and we are proud to say it.”