SearingDrive wrote: ↑Fri Aug 23, 2024 11:45 am
jimbob17 wrote: ↑Fri Aug 23, 2024 1:32 am
Not sure I'd agree fully with that. There probably is an insecurity complex within Offaly GAA around promoting from within. There may not be many but there certainly are some potential senior coaches and managers in Offaly capable of adding something to those U20 hurling teams and football teams. Just because we won All Irelands with outside managers back in 80s and 90s doesnt mean we dont produce coaches or managers. No more than any county, we do produce coaches but we are very slow to give them a chance. We won All-Irelands in the 70s with Offaly based people, and can do again and have given management and coaching opportunities to numerous duds from outside the county in the past.
We should be actively looking at how we can equip and produce our own coaches who have genuine vested interests in Offaly doing well, rather than continuously pumping money needlessly into outsiders and giving them the experience, building their CV's to take back to their own counties. Over the last number of years I have spoken to some inter county players - one in particular - who has said every time after the intro of a new coach, that he is as good as he has ever had, and will really bring them on; only to hear later in the year or after he departed, that the same coach was way over-rated and or wasn't great. As has often been said, far away hills are sometimes green.
That is a good point, but after 2024results the Executive looked to improve matters. Mickey Harte was available, so they opted for the Tyrone native.
Time will tell if it works out.
No issue whatsoever with Harte being brought in - obviously this is good with his experience etc. There is no issue bringing in a big name manager with experience either. My point is who are the coaches being brought in that are far from household names with minimal levels of success behind them that cost relatively big money when you add it all up. Who were the coaches under the likes of Maughan, Wallace, Kearns etc and what did they really care or know about the players within Offaly? They were all outsiders and having spoken to some players, some of them were not up to much at all! How much value did they offer ahead of an Offaly based coach with similar credentials and or qualifications and where are these coaches we employed now? They certainly are not strengthening the base of Offaly football at club level.
For example, I know Billy Sheehan was run out of Laois after taking them down to division 4, yet we wanted him as a coach for a period when he had little or no experience and nobody called it out. There are decent people within the county that are equally as qualified as some of these 'external coaches'. Their knowledge of the club scene would only add value to a backroom and the experience they would gain within the county set up, learning from a Kearns / Maughan / Harte etc would only benefit the county longer term, rather than giving experience to lads with similar credentials from outside the county to take elsewhere when they inevitably finish up. We are actually undoing ourselves in this regard. You might suggest that if they were there or any good, they'd be coaching outside the county but all i'd say to that is that, why wouldn't other counties ignore Offaly coaches when we don't even value them ourselves. They can't be any worse than some of the fellas that we have brought in over a number of years.
Limerick hurlers consisted of a majority of Limerick coaches, as did the Dublin footballers under Gilroy and Gavin and Farrell, as did the Clare and Cork hurlers of their own county men respectively this year. They didnt have inferiority complexes about their own people! Sometimes counties bring in expertise where they think they have a gap in an area and I can see why - eg Kerry footballers who brought in Paddy Tally, but were otherwise stacked with Kerry people involved in their team. We seem to bring lads from Dublin, Longford, Laois and anywhere but Offaly - and now Sligo. What will that do for Offaly long term, where we pay them and equip them with experience to bring back to their own counties or elsewhere. It is totally counter-productive if you ask me. But, like I said, faraway hills are green!
