GAA manager merry-go-round: The full list of new arrivals and departures

Irish Daily Mirror

4 days ago

Following the appointments of Andy Moran and Dermot McCabe as Mayo and Cavan managers respectively - both returning home - five inter-county football vacancies remain.
The five jobs up for grabs are Roscommon, Westmeath, Waterford, Clare and Antrim.
11 inter-county football managers have left their posts since the end of the 2025 season - although Ger Brennan and McCabe moved jobs - indicating the fluid, demanding and precarious nature of the job.
The phrase managerial merry-go-round slightly demeans the quality at this level, but there are certainly more and more career coaches moving around the counties.
There are also plenty of incumbents that still have to be confirmed in their roles for next year, but a clear picture of what 2026 will look like has begun to emerge.
By the time the (re)appointments processes are complete there will be a maximum of 12 football managers who have served two years or more.
That means that 21 managers will either be going into their first year, or have served one year to date.
Former Footballer of the Year, Moran was a coach with Monaghan this season, while he also served three years as Leitrim manager, so he has extensive inter-county experience.
McCabe - who works as a coach for Cavan GAA - spent one year with Westmeath and was previously involved as a coach with Mickey Graham when the Breffni Blues landed the 2020 Ulster title.
Their appointments bring the number of natives in charge of their own counties currently to 19 out of 28.
And perhaps not surprisingly, eight of the nine longest serving managers (listed below) are locals.
Wicklow's Oisin McConville is the only outside boss currently in a post to have served three years, and he recently agreed a fresh two year term.
The other outside managers are McConville's Armagh All-Ireland winning team mate Justin McNulty, Malachy O'Rourke, Mike Solan, Steven Poacher, Ciaran Meenagh and Gavin Devlin.
Malachy O'Rourke has lived in Tyrone for over three decades so could nearly be considered a local.
Offaly have joint managers, with Declan Kelly a local, alongside Tyrone's Mickey Harte.
Interestingly, seven of the eight outside managers, including Harte, are from Ulster - Tyrone (3), Armagh (2) and one apiece from Fermanagh, Down and Mayo (Solan).
The longest serving football manager by a distance now is Kieran McGeeney, who has completed 11 years in charge of Armagh.
Colm Collins is the only one in recent times to come close, taking his native Clare for 10 seasons, before leaving the post two years ago.
McGeeney has lost coach Kieran Donaghy, but there has been no speculation about his own future. After the 2024 All-Ireland victory the decision will be his.
Jack O'Connor (Kerry) has cast doubt over his own future, but few would be surprised if he returned for a fifth season after landing two All-Ireland titles in four years and the Kingdom looking in rude health under the new rules.
It's not as clear cut in Galway, where Padraic Joyce finished out a sixth year on a disappointing note.
Galway did win a Connacht three-in-a-row, and showed serious fighting spirit to keep their season alive against Derry and Armagh in a nightmare group and then topple Down in Newry.
But although that schedule of trips to Cavan, Newry and Croke Park in 15 days may have taken a toll, the All-Ireland quarter-final loss to Meath was still a shock and a bad way to end their year.
Joyce, who has led Galway to two All-Ireland finals, should have enough money in the bank for another shot if he wants it.
Fermanagh's Kieran Donnelly has a term that runs until the end of the 2027 season, which would see him serve six years as Erne boss if he finishes it out.
Some of the same faces are turning up in different counties.
Andy Moran is now with his third county having managed Leitrim and coached Monaghan. 2026 will be his fifth consecutive year involved at this level.
Dermot McCabe has switched Westmeath for his native Cavan, while Ger Brennan has done the same with Louth and Dublin.
Ciaran Meenagh has moved from Down back to Derry after coaching alongside Rory Gallagher, and briefly managing the Oak Leaf County to the 2023 Ulster title.
Tyrone man Meenagh also coached under Damian McErlain in Derry so this will be his seventh consecutive year involved at this level.
Another Red Hand son, Paddy Tally will move to his sixth county when he links up with Andy Moran's Mayo to make it nine consecutive years at inter-county level.
Tally managed Derry this year, coached with Jack O'Connor in Kerry for three years (2022-24), managed Down for three years (2019-21) and coached Galway in 2018 under Kevin Walsh.
He also coached Derry under Brian McIver (2013-15) and trained Down to the 2010 All-Ireland Final, starting out under Ross Carr in 2009 and continuing when James McCartan took over the following year.
Tally also coached Mickey Harte's Tyrone to their 2003 All-Ireland breakthrough before leaving after the 2004 season.
Staying with Tyrone, Gavin Devlin is back with Louth, who he works for in a coaching capacity, having served alongside Mickey Harte with the Wee County for three years.
But Harte is the daddy of them all. This year was his 23rd season on the trot involved at senior inter-county level - Tyrone (18), Louth (3), Derry (1) and Offaly (1).
Throw in his stints with Tyrone minors and under-20s and it's 36 consecutive years involved with inter-county teams.
Andy McEntee ranks highly in the longevity stakes and it will be interesting to see if he ends up in one of the current vacancies.
He has served nine consecutive seasons at inter-county level with Meath (6) and Antrim (3), having just vacated the Saffrons post.
THE LONGEST SERVING INTER-COUNTY FOOTBALL MANAGERS, NEW BOSSES, THOSE WHO'VE LEFT THIS YEAR AND CURRENT VACANCIES
*Some managers are still to be reappointed, or confirm their plans for 2026
11 YEARS
Kieran McGeeney (Armagh)
6 YEARS
Padraic Joyce (Galway)
Michael Maher (London)
4 YEARS
John Cleary (Cork)
Jack O'Connor (Kerry)
Kieran Donnelly (Fermanagh)
3 YEARS
John Hegarty (Wexford), Conor Laverty (Down), Oisin McConville (Wicklow)
2 YEARS
Jim McGuinness (Donegal), Jimmy Lee (Limerick), Justin McNulty (Laois)
1 YEAR (9)
Robbie Brennan (Meath), Malachy O'Rourke (Tyrone), Gabriel Bannigan (Monaghan), Mike Solan (Longford), Declan Kelly/Mickey Harte (Offaly), Joe Murphy (Carlow), Brian Flanagan (Kildare), Steven Poacher (Leitrim), Philly Ryan (Tipperary)
NEW MANAGERS (6)
Ger Brennan (Dublin), Andy Moran (Mayo), Dermot McCabe (Cavan), Dessie Sloyan/Eamonn O'Hara (Sligo), Ciaran Meenagh (Derry), Gavin Devlin (Louth)
VACANCIES (5)
Clare, Westmeath, Roscommon, Antrim, Waterford
GONE THIS YEAR (11) (seasons served as manager in brackets)
Andy McEntee (9) - Antrim (3) and Meath (6) - Dessie Farrell, Dublin (6), Tony McEntee, Sligo (5), Davy Burke, Roscommon (3), Kevin McStay, Mayo (3), Paul Shankey, Waterford (2), Raymond Galligan, Cavan (2), Ger Brennan, Louth (2), Paddy Tally, Derry (1), Dermot McCabe, Westmeath (1), Peter Keane, Clare (1)