Steve Cassady
Athletic Director

Steve Cassady is in his fourteenth year as Blue Devil Athletic Director. A graduate of Salinas High School, Hartnell JC, UCLA, and San Francisco State University, Steve was hired by Merced College as a full-time English Instructor in 1973. For the next dozen years he doubled as a sportswriter specializing in professional football and earning a national reputation. In that period he attended nine Super Bowls as a working writer; authored all or part of five books; contributed articles to several others; wrote nearly 100 magazine articles, most of them for PRO Magazine; and ghost-wrote for five years a daily radio commentary for John Madden. In 1988, Don Odishoo hired him as head coach of the Merced College softball program, which had been discontinued for a season. In his twenty-one seasons as coach, Cassady's softball teams won over 600 games and made the post-season playoffs seven of past nine years, reaching the regional finals three times and the State Final Eight twice. Steve was named Northern California coach of the year in 1999 leading the She- Devils to a 51-8 record and fourth in the state. He was named Athletic Director effective July 1995. Steve is married to Cynthia, and they have three children, Candace, Corey, and Stephen II.

John O'Brien - ATC

John has been at Merced College for twenty-seven years. He has a bachelors degree in psychology from Sacramento State and a Masters degree in Sports Medicine (Athletic Training) from the United States Sports Academy. John is certified by the National Athletic Training Association and is also certified by Athletic Equipment Managers Association. John is married to Lisa Hunter and has two grown children, Matt and Katie.

Patrick E. Kelly
Sports Information Director

Pat has been a member of the Blue Devil Athletic Department for twenty-two years. The Merced native is a former graduate of Merced High School. As the Sports Information Director, Pat is responsible for putting together all press guides and game programs for the college's 11 intercollegiate athletic teams. Since Pat's arrival the football game program, water polo, swimming, women's soccer, women's basketball and women's water polo press guides have all been revised and enhanced. Pat is also responsible for maintaining an open dialogue between the local (newspapers, TV, and radio stations), state (J.C. Athletic Bureau), national and hometown media agencies with stats, game results, and player performances. Pat is also responsible for most athletic department photography. Pat has just recently taken on the job of maintaining the athletic department webpages. Pat was the CCC BCA Publicity Director for four years. Pat is a graduate of New Mexico Military Institute, Fresno State University with a BA in History, and West Virginia University with an MS in Sports Management. Pat also attended National University in Fresno doing post-graduate work in education. Pat and his wife Marcia live in Merced with their baby daughter Virginia.

Nancy Bates
Athletic Secretary