Tim O’Brien – Head Coach
Coach O’Brien is originally from Garnet Valley, Pennsylvania. During his high school career at Garnet Valley, Tim earned league honors numerous times and was named Pennsylvania Keystone State Games tournament MVP after his team won the gold medal. He was also awarded the Keystone State Games scholastic recognition award and the team’s coaches award in the same year. Upon graduation in 2007, Tim began his collegiate studies at Roanoke College, where he not only earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, but also played varsity lacrosse under Coach Bill Pilat. During his time with the team, Roanoke College men’s lacrosse program was consistently nationally ranked in the upper echelon of division III lacrosse programs. In his final season, Tim was awarded the Paul S. Griffin award, an award given to those who demonstrate outstanding leadership and dedication to the team and program. Taking advantage of a dual-degree program offered between Roanoke College and Virginia Tech, Tim enrolled at Virginia Tech after the completion of his 3rd year at Roanoke College to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. During his time as an undergraduate student of Virginia Tech, briefly acted as an assistant coach for the Virginia Tech men’s lacrosse team (2011-2012).
Tim then went on to complete his Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 2015 and immediately transitioned into a PhD program at the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences. Tim’s research mainly focuses on the organ preservation technology, bioheat transport, regenerative medicine, and the improvement of cancer therapies.
Erich Pfeffer – Assistant Coach
Coach Pfeffer is from Glastonbury, CT where he played both football and lacrosse for his father, Pete Pfeffer. On the football field, Erich quarterbacked his team to win the 2008 CT LL State Championship, and was a National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Scholar-Athlete and a New Haven Register All-State team member. On the lacrosse field, Pfeffer was a 2-year captain, 3-year All-State team member, Academic All–American, and the CT High School Lacrosse Coaches Association Scholar-Athlete of the Year. At the end of his high school career, Erich was recognized as the Glastonbury High School 2009 Male Scholar-Athlete.
After high school, Pfeffer headed to Middlebury College in Vermont to study architecture and to extend his lacrosse career. He was a 4-year starting midfielder for the Middlebury lacrosse team, a 3-time NESCAC All-Academic team member, and helped to lead his team to a ranking of sixth in the NCAA Division III national polls during his senior season. In the classroom, Erich was a joint-major in Architectural and Environmental Studies, and a Mathematics minor. He graduated Magna cum laude from Middlebury in 2013 with high honors in both of his major departments.
Following his graduation from college, Pfeffer entered the professional world as a designer and project manager for a small architecture office in New York, NY. Throughout his three-year stay in Manhattan, he found various outlets for involvement in the lacrosse community, such as coaching for the CT Cardinals and the 3D Lacrosse club programs.
In 2016, Erich elected to return to the classroom at Virginia Tech to pursue his Master of Architecture and to continue his involvement with the sport of lacrosse as an assistant coach for the Virginia Tech Men’s Lacrosse team. Pfeffer is en route to obtaining a professional architectural license and determined to one day run his own residential design-build firm.
Jack Viere – Assistant Coach
Coach Viere is originally from Charlottesville, Virginia. During high school at St. Anne’s Belfield, Jack played under Doug Tarring and current head coach, Bo Perriello. As a self-described “utility midi,” he helped the Saints win back to back State Championships (2007, 2008) in the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association Private I Division, thus earning the team an Insider Lacrosse Preseason Ranking of 25th in the nation. In 2009, the team made it to the State Finals, but was unable to capture a three-peat. After lettering in varsity four years, he attended St. Joseph’s University in West Philadelphia and played club lacrosse. In 2015, he graduated from the Honors College cum laude with a degree in Philosophy and Communications. Upon graduating, Jack began working full time for a nonprofit in Philadelphia called Community Integrated Services. Before coming to Virginia Tech, he was an Assessment Training Specialist and was responsible for gaining employment for a caseload of individuals diagnosed with intellectual, mental, and/or physical disabilities.
Jack also coached boy’s lacrosse during the 2016 season. At Harriton High School in Rosemont, Pennsylvania, he was an Assistant Coach to Joe Proud for the High School Varsity Boy’s Team. Coach Proud’s 15+ years of coaching at both the collegiate and high school levels influentially shaped Jack’s own coaching style. Under Coach Proud’s direction, Jack was also given the opportunity to independently coach the Junior Varsity Boy’s Team. Simultaneously, Jack was the Head Coach for Ashbee Lacrosse’s U-10 Boy’s Team. The team proudly boasts a 15-3 record that was capped off by a nail-biting goal scored in overtime that earned the championship at the 2016 Liberty Lacrosse Tournament.
Jack is beginning his first year of graduate studies in Political Science. His focus pertains to disabilities in political theory, identity, and autonomy. He optimistically has his eyes set on the Alliance for Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought (ASPECT), Virginia Tech’s inter-disciplinarian PhD track.
Virginia Tech Men's Lacrosse 