Jack O’Connor in a place in Kerry football where he will be celebrated and not forgotten
ONE OF THE gifts Jarlath Burns has brought to the office of the GAA presidency is his intuition when reading the room.
The committee is king in the GAA political world, which inevitably and understandably frames the world view of those who clamber to the top and who, in their big moments always lean on appreciation for the collective ahead of the individual; the county committees, the match officials, the diaspora, the grassroot volunteers and the players.
But in an All-Ireland final in which the build-up was dominated by three individuals, Michael Murphy, David Clifford and Jim McGuinness, Burns acknowledged that reality in his presentation speech.
He celebrated Murphy as the legend he is who came within a game of even bending time to his will as he sought to write the greatest comeback story ever written.
He astutely ducked the challenge of articulating the greatness of Clifford, recognising what those of us in the press box have known for an age, that words are as ill equipped to describe the Fossa genius as zonal defences are in curbing him.
And he hailed Jack O’Connor for winning a fifth All-Ireland to remind that the game we had just witnessed had been played out to his blueprint rather that of another great manager – despite McGuinness’ repeated and genuine efforts all year to give credit exclusively to his players – who was sold as the one who was in the business of winning matches.
Okay, it is more likely that Burns just wanted to remind that in a year when football lost its greatest manager how fitting it was that another from up the road in the parish of Waterville had his greatness cemented.
It was timely too, because this could be the end for him. O’Connor said as much earlier in the year, pretty much confirmed it in the post final press conference before hiding behind mature reflection the following day to muddy the water around his intentions by suggesting he would take a bit of time over it.
That might be genuine; he may have had his head turned by heartfelt pleas from his players on a giddy banquet night in the Burlo to give it one more go or, perhaps more likely, he may not have wanted his imminent departure to steal the thunder of his players glorious present. We have the latter on our betting slip.
He has a track record of knowing his own mind, which is why he has left this post twice and returned to it twice.
And if Carlsberg did departures this is how it would be, winning four trophies despite only entering three competitions, on the grounds that Kerry are now also the unofficial Ulster champions.
He radiated a calmness and satisfaction when it was all over on Sunday evening that was a world away from the man who raged against his team’s critics just 28 days earlier. He is 64 now and there is a time when living in a pressure cooker is neither good for man nor mind.
Those who might think that the demands on managing Kerry are over-egged, a quick yarn which this column witnessed first hand.
When Sam Maguire came calling to Caherciveen on the Friday night after the 2009 All-Ireland final win over Cork, heavy rain invited shelter as we waited for the team’s arrival.
As they finally made their way up the street, we made our way to the doorway of the hostelry where we were joined by another high stool pilot.
“Well, will you look at them there now with the cup and not a word about the All-Ireland that they fucked away last year,’ he declared.
It is not just the eaten bread that is quickly forgotten, sometimes the bread just baked is too.
But O’Connor has not put himself in a place in Kerry football where not only will he not be forgotten, he will be celebrated too. Rightly.
There are many attributes that made him the manager he has become, but perhaps the most obvious is a word he likes to use himself, “cajones.”
He has never been afraid to roll the dice. Trace a finger over all his All-Ireland wins and they have been marked by big calls.
The introduction of Paul Galvin and Aidan O’Mahony in 2004 providing the raw physical edge that had been exploited up north, going back to the future to put a big man at the edge of the square in the 2006, the reshaping of the spine of his defence in the mid-summer of 2009 by luring Michael McCarthy out of retirement while having to drop Tomas Ó Sé and Gooch Cooper, and, of course, importing a Tyrone coach in Paddy Tally in 2022, which was a poke in the eye to local puritans.
This year, he defied a run of critical injuries not by accident but by design, moving Graham O’Sullivan from the full-back line to half-forward became even more valuable as middle options contracted, while the integration of back-up midfielders Sean O’Brien and Mark O’Shea was a masterclass in clarity of coaching and purpose.
His other gift is his nose for management team talent. His recruitment of an athletics coach in Pat Flanagan gave his team of the noughties an explosive edge, the detailing of Eamon Fitzmaurice on video analysis moulded an All-Ireland winning manager and the most insightful pundit to ever be introduced to a microphone in one fell swoop, the introduction of Tally turned the Kerry defence from a leaking sieve into a strong-box.
And, then he goes and leaves his best trick for possibly his last one. Working with an entire new management team in a brand new game, he brought in Cian O’Neill – and the desire for Jack to stay will be accentuated by hope that relationship extends to another season – with the focus of returning to a more direct style, providing a different play-book but not necessarily a brand new one.
The sight of David Clifford drifting out to the half-forward line last Sunday invited an obvious comparison with James O’Donoghue’s selfless role in the 2014 final, when O’Neill was Fitzmaurice’s coach.
The difference was that the scale of Clifford’s talent and rule changes that have left blanket defences wafer thin, meant that this time it was designed to sting and not just stretch.
In all of that, O’Connor has left a body of work behind him which has left football’s most challenging and irksome constituents with barely a bone to pick.
In a land that has made a sport out of doing just that, it may be his greatest validation of all.
*****
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