Jack O'Connor: 'A tough lonely place to be. There were times when I felt like packing it up'

The 42

5 days ago

BASKING IN THE celebratory glow of an All-Ireland winning campaign, Jack O'Connor's mind drifted back to the struggle to reach that point.
When Kerry's 2024 silverware hopes crumbled in extra-time against Armagh last year, their manager was facing a steep climb back to the summit.
Further disruption came with the departures of his management team and the necessity to find replacements.
The off-season was unforgiving for O'Connor and the prospect of heading for the exit door was something he considered.
'I found the year in general tough because you have to remember, 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 broke 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 lonely place to be, when you're trying to do that.
'There were times when I felt like packing it up.
'I would be conversing with some of the players and stuff and they would have said to 'hang in there'.
'I'm glad I stuck with it and saw the year out because we got the reward. But it was a tough year.'
Kerry manager Jack O'Connor celebrates with David Clifford. Morgan Treacy / INPHO Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
When Kerry lifted Sam in 2022, O'Connor drew on the expertise of Paddy Tally, Mike Quirke, and Diarmuid Murphy.
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Their departures created a void before the planning for 2025 could commence.
'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.
'As it turned out the lads have been brilliant – Cian O'Neill, James Costello, Aodhan MacGearailt and Pa McCarthy. They brought real freshness and real new ideas to the set up. I think the players relished that.'
There is doubt about O'Connor's own future in the Kerry hotseat. He indicated he is considering departing when speaking after the game on Sunday evening and yesterday morning in the Burlington reiterated that he is mulling things over about remaining in charge for 2026.
'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's 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. He'd be around the lawn below at a golf club, learning to swing it.
'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 settled for a couple of weeks.
'I won't hang people out to dry or keep people hanging on. I'll have a think about it. I had only one or two hours' sleep last night, so now isn't a great time to be making a decision.'
Kerry manager Jack O'Connor celebrates Morgan Treacy / INPHO Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
The draining nature of this season was captured by the effort to turn things around in the wake of Kerry's group stage loss against Meath.
After their quarter-final dismissal of ArmagH, he hit back at the critics of his team.
'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 being written off and disrespected. Sometimes you just get pissed off with that because the people who are doing the criticising are most of the time hurlers in 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, sure there is no harm at times to leave off a bit of steam.'
Away from his own team's performances, there was another source of irritation in grappling with the new rules that transformed Gaelic football.
'By and large, they've got an awful lot right. I think it'll be maybe two or three seasons before the thing beds in properly. I just saw a headline where they're talking about maybe a couple more rule changes. We'll see.
'It's a great product now. It's a good product, Gaelic football. It's more enjoyable to coach. Offensively, it gives you a lot more options than the old game.
'I was a bit peeved there during the year at that craic with holding up the play, when there's a free kick given, not handing the ball back quickly enough or getting out of the way. I mean it was a farce there at one stage. It. came to a head down in Páirc Uí Chaoimh in one of the group games where the ball was brought forward, 10 or 12 times on both sides.
'I remember talking to Jim Gavin at the time, and I says, 'Jesus Christ, Jim, you'll have to do something about this'. I mean, fellas can't just disappear, like. You're battling for a ball, and the whistle goes, and you don't know half the time is the free for you or is it for the other crowd. And then you're supposed to hand the ball back and then disappear out of the lad's path and then players were exploiting it by running into fellas, so I think they tidied that up around that period.
Kerry manager Jack O'Connor commiserates with Donegal manager Jim McGuinness. Morgan Treacy / INPHO Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
'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.
'But look, it wasn't a big factor (on Sunday). I don't think there was any ball brought forward yesterday, was there? In the whole game? So I think it settled down but there was a period there alright when it was awful annoying.'
O'Connor paid tribute to Johnny Culloty, the Kerry legend who passed away earlier this year and was one of his selectors during his first spell in charge between 2004 and 2006.
'Johnny was a great friend of mine. He passed away during the year as well. So he got a few calls during the match yesterday, and before the match. I remember his son saying to me at his funeral that Johnny would help us to win the All-Ireland. So fair play to Donal, he predicted that. Ah Johnny was a great friend of mine and a great confidant, and he certainly got a couple of calls yesterday.'
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