Daniel Matthew O'Brien (born September 26, 1990) is an American gridiron football assistant coach with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL). As a professional quarterback, he had been a member of the Columbus Lions, Ottawa Redblacks, Edmonton Eskimos, and BC Lions. He played college football for the University of Maryland, University of Wisconsin and Catawba College. Early years O'Brien was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and at the age of 12, moved to Kernersville, North Carolina, where he attended East Forsyth High School. During his interscholastic career, he played basketball and football as a quarterback. As a junior in 2007, he completed 151 of 248 pass attempts for 1,905 yards and 15 touchdowns and rushed for 290 yards and seven touchdowns. As a senior, he completed 117 of 235 pass attempts for 1,640 yards and 16 touchdowns and six interceptions and had 160 rushing attempts for 780 yards and 11 touchdowns. That season, he led his team to the Metro 4A conference championship and the third round of the state playoffs. Rivals.com rated him a three-star college prospect and ranked him the 36th best quarterback in the nation and 35th best player in the state of North Carolina. Scout.com also rated him a three-star prospect. Miami, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, Wake Forest, and Virginia Tech showed interest in O'Brien, and Duke, East Carolina, and Maryland offered him an athletic scholarship. College career Maryland O'Brien enrolled at the University of Maryland in the fall of 2009 but was redshirted and did not see playing time that year. O'Brien entered the 2010 season as the backup quarterback behind Jamarr Robinson. He saw his first action in the season opener against Navy, losing a fumble on his only play of the game. In the second game of the season, O'Brien saw his first serious action against Morgan State. Up 24–0 in the second quarter, O'Brien capitalized by throwing 3 touchdowns in his first four passes before giving way to third string Quarterback, C.J. Brown in the 62–3 win. Against West Virginia, O'Brien again only saw one play of action, getting sacked for a five-yard loss. Robinson's sore arm moved O'Brien into the starting role against Florida International. In the first start of his college career, O'Brien passed for 250 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. O'Brien shattered all significant Freshman quarterback records at the University of Maryland,