Jack O’Connor contemplated stepping down as Kerry manager at the end of last season.
He admits the All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Armagh last year, followed by the break-up of his management team, led to him giving serious consideration to walking away.
“I did certainly, yeah,” he says. “Around this time last year we suffered a heartbreaking defeat to Armagh in a game that we appeared to be in control of. Then I had my whole management broken up, so I had to try and put the management together while I was dealing with the personal heartbreak of losing an All-Ireland semi-final.
“That can be a tough and lonely place to be when you’re trying to do that, so right from this time last year I found the going tough and there were times when I felt like packing it up.
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“I’m glad I stuck with it and saw the year out because we got the reward on Sunday. But it was a tough year.”
O’Connor lost selectors Mike Quirke, Diarmuid Murphy and Paddy Tally during the off-season. Tally only left in November to take on the role of Derry senior football manager.
The return of Cian O’Neill to the Kerry management team was seen as a boost but O’Connor had to find several other new selectors and eventually completed a backroom team that included Aodán Mac Gearailt, Pa McCarthy and James Costello.
And O’Connor says the encouragement of the players persuaded him to remain in charge for 2025.
“I would have been conversing with some of the players and they would have said to hang in there. It’s tough going when you lose your management team, lads that you soldier with and that you trust and confide in.
“Then you have to try and gel with a new management team. That can be tough at times. As it turned out, the lads have been brilliant. Cian, James, Aodán and Pa were absolutely brilliant.
I’m not sure I can put myself through that stuff again because when you reach a certain age, your priorities change a bit
— Jack O'Connor
“They brought real freshness and real new ideas to the setup. I think the players relished that.”
O’Connor’s current term is now up. He has indicated several times since Sunday’s All-Ireland final win against Donegal that there might be a new man on the sideline for the Kingdom next year.
The 64-year-old has made no definitive public declaration, but all of the soundings since the weekend suggest O’Connor is unlikely to return – although Kerry county board officials will probably try to convince him to stay on.
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He rejected suggestions that he might be sending out mixed messages.
“No, it’s not like that at all,” said O’Connor. “It isn’t like I’m playing hard to get at all. I’m a long old time at this thing now, lads. I found last year particularly tough, I have to say, and I’m not sure I can put myself through that stuff again because when you reach a certain age, your priorities change a bit.
“There are a lot of other things I like doing. I like playing a bit of golf, I like spending time with my grandson, Jack, who’s mad for golf as well.
“I live in a nice part of the country and I enjoy being out in nature and going out at my old homestead in Dromid. Stuff like that. We’ll see, I’ll leave it settle for a couple of weeks.”
O’Connor’s emotional outburst after Kerry’s quarter-final win over Armagh in June appeared to be the moment the pressure valve was released as the Kerry manager hit back at criticism of the team.
“Ah, it wasn’t about me personally. It was just that we were putting in an incredible effort but on the back of one bad day out we were getting written off and disrespected,” he adds.
“Sometimes you just get p**sed off with that because the people who are doing the criticising are most of the time hurlers on the ditch who don’t put in the same effort themselves with teams.
“I’m normally not like that. You’ve listened to me a long time; I normally give stock answers at these press briefings. But I had reached a point where I was just up to my tonsils with it. I had a bit of a rant and sure there is no harm at times to leave off a bit of steam.”
For O’Connor, watching his side set the tempo and dominate Sunday’s game from the off was incredibly satisfying.
“What pleased me was that on the biggest day of the year, we had probably our best performance. And what pleased me was the way that the lads took the game to Donegal from the off.
“I think Gavin White winning the breaking ball from the throw-in, driving on, slipping it to Dylan Geaney, a young forward in his first All-Ireland kicking a great score off his left foot, that’s the start you want. There was a lot of good stuff happening in that move.”
Whether or not O’Connor will be on the Kerry sideline next year, he hopes most of the trial rules will now be kept on a permanent basis. However, his support of the various changes is not universal.
“By and large, they’ve got an awful lot right,” he says. “I’m still not convinced about handing the ball back, though. I think dropping the ball on the ground where the foul occurs is a good enough show of respect.”
As for respect, there was some criticism of Donegal for breaking early from the pre-match parade prior to Sunday’s final. O’Connor says Kerry had planned to complete the parade behind the Artane Band, irrespective of what Donegal decided to do.
“We spoke about it on Thursday night, that regardless of what happened, we were going to finish the parade. That’s what we did. I know Donegal broke a bit early, but sure that’s their business. We can only deal with our side of it.”
