Irish Eyes Are Smiling on O’Brien : Prep football: Santa Margarita quarterback’s uncle rescued Notre Dame in 1966. Now, nephew is trying to make his own mark.

Sean O’Brien took one look at his uncle’s ring and that was that. The gold casing, the big, red stone, the engraving that read: Notre Dame, ’66 National Champions.

O’Brien, a senior quarterback for Santa Margarita High School, knew the story by heart: how Coley O’Brien, reserve quarterback, rescued the Fighting Irish in 1966.

He was thrust into the starting lineup with two games left. First came the famous 10-10 tie with Michigan State and then came the memorable rout of USC.

The story, and the stone in that ring, were enough to make a little boy’s eyes sparkle.

The nephew of Coley O’Brien--a rather important footnote in Notre Dame football history--just had to be a football star. It was almost ordained.

“I would watch Notre Dame games on TV and think about my uncle,” O’Brien said. “I would think, ‘He used to play there.’ It made me want to play college football and be a star.”

O’Brien is close now, very close.

He is being wooed by recruiters, who like his ability and versatility. USC sees him as a linebacker. California sees him as a tight end. Colorado sees him as a quarterback.

And O’Brien? He sees that ring.

“It’s mesmerizing,” he said. “I used to look at it and dream.”

O’Brien’s dreams have been nightmares for other teams this season. Santa Margarita is 5-0, ranked fourth in Orange County and has been averaging 37.8 points a game.

Much of the Eagles’ success is because of their quarterback.

O’Brien is second in the county in passing efficiency. He has thrown for 1,003 yards and 10 touchdowns with only one interception.

When he’s not throwing over the defense, he’s usually running over it. O’Brien leads the team with 336 yards rushing and has scored three touchdowns.

Any wonder Coach Jim Hartigan redesigned the Eagle offense last season to fit O’Brien’s skills?

“We had to open it up a little more for Sean,” Hartigan said. “It just makes sense to have him throw the ball and run the option. He’s very good at both.”

Just ask Corona del Mar, which got a good dose of O’Brien’s multiple skills two weeks ago. He completed 12 of 18 passes for 210 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 109 yards, 50 of which came on a touchdown run.

And that’s not including a spellbinding 27-yard run, in which he zigzagged across the field and ran through six would-be tacklers into the end zone. The play was nullified because of a penalty, but the memory lingers with O’Brien.

“That was really fun,” he said. “It was supposed to be a pass play, but the hole opened up. I just improvised. I juked a couple guys, then I saw the whole field open before me.

“That’s what is great about quarterback. You’re in control.”

Yet, it’s a job he didn’t even want at first.

“Quarterback is such a scary position,” O’Brien said. “All eyes are on you.”

He didn’t mind the spotlight, he just preferred a few moments away from its glare.

His brother, Jim O’Brien Jr., was a wide receiver for Mater Dei. He caught 48 passes during the regular season in 1985, when Todd Marinovich was quarterback, and led the county with 58 receptions the following season.

To the younger O’Brien, this looked ideal.

“I remember the night he caught 11 passes against Stephon Pace (former Bishop Amat defensive back now at USC),” O’Brien said. “That was exciting. I really wanted to be a receiver after that.”

Or a defensive back. Or linebacker. Anything but quarterback.

But his father and uncle had other ideas; they wanted him to play quarterback.

“My dad was a running back at Navy, but he always told us to play quarterback if we could,” said Jim O’Brien Sr., who spent 23 years in the Marines. “He said it was the only position to play.”

Jim O’Brien Sr. didn’t listen. He was a standout running back in high school, but was told by doctors to stop playing football when he entered the Naval Academy.

Coley O’Brien listened and became a star quarterback.

“Yeah, Coley took Dad’s advice and look how he turned out,” Jim O’Brien said.

O’Brien, now a lawyer in Washington, D.C., entered Notre Dame the same year Terry Hanratty arrived. He spent most of his sophomore season as a backup, but was called upon in a moment of crisis.

Hanratty was injured in the first quarter against Michigan State. O’Brien took over and helped the No. 1-ranked Fighting Irish play the No. 2 Spartans to a draw. The following week, he led them to a 51-0 pasting of USC, the worst defeat in Trojan history.

These stories were told over and over to Sean. “My dad talks about it most,” O’Brien said. “Sometimes, when I’m laying on the couch, he’ll say, ‘Your uncle used to tie a tire to a tree, swing it back and forth, then throw footballs through it. That’s what he did when he had nothing else to do.’ He just tries to get me to practice more.”

It also gave O’Brien a high opinion of his uncle.

“When he would visit, I would ask to see his ring,” he said. “It fired me up.”

But not enough to follow in his footsteps. Not for a while, anyway.

O’Brien did play quarterback as a freshman, leading the Eagles to a 7-3 record. He was moved up to the varsity as a sophomore.

But Santa Margarita already had an experienced quarterback in Trevor Yankoff, which was fine with O’Brien. He got a chance to experiment at other positions.

He filled in at wide receiver as a sophomore and even caught a touchdown pass in the Southern Section Division IV semifinals.

Last season, O’Brien started at defensive back and had three interceptions. His play was so impressive he was named first-team All-Division V.

O’Brien, who is 6 feet 4 and 215 pounds, liked playing defense. He could improvise on that side of the ball. As the team’s quarterback, he felt more restricted.

He threw for 971 yards and 10 touchdowns and also rushed for 447 yards last season. But his heart wasn’t in it.

“I really wanted to be a receiver, like my brother,” O’Brien said. “But quarterback was in my veins. Dad was right.”

His father and his coach finally convinced him of that.

“Sean told me he wanted to be a receiver because he liked running with the ball,” Hartigan said. “I said, ‘Well, why don’t you just take it from center then.’ ”

O’Brien has no qualms about being a quarterback these days. In fact, he has worked to improve at the position.

He attended two quarterback camps last summer. One was at Notre Dame. “That was neat because my uncle had some of his friends come down and say hello,” O’Brien said.

Coley O’Brien watches his nephew develop from a distance. But he stays in contact, calling about twice a week.

“I talked a lot with Sean this summer because I wanted to make sure he worked hard,” Coley O’Brien said. “This is the most important year in his life to date. He has a chance to go to college and play football. I didn’t want him to have that slip away.”

It hasn’t. O’Brien hears from recruiters regularly--although he has had little contact from Notre Dame.

Many said they want to move him from quarterback when he gets to college. O’Brien said he doesn’t care what position he plays, as long as he plays.

He just wants to let the dreams of a kid play themselves out.

“Hopefully, I’m getting close,” O’Brien said. “If things keep going the way they are, they could be realistic dreams.”