McDonnell Hopes To Send Offaly Football In New Direction
Thursday, 23 August 2012
from www.tullamoretribune.ie
ASPIRING Offaly footballers could be in for a shock to their system when new Offaly manager, Emmet McDonnell outlines his plans and the type of commitment that he will require to bring them onto a higher level.
The 33 year old Kinnegad man was a surprise choice when he was announced as the new Offaly senior football manager recently. He may be very much a novice at this level but he has a surprising wealth of experience for such a young man and most importantly, he is deeply ambitious.
Fully aware of Offaly's current standing and the fact that they are as close to rock bottom as they have been in a good few decades, McDonnell is under no illusions about the task ahead of them. He is setting no specific goals, other than to improve Offaly football and help each player reach his potential, but he has a clear plan for what is needed and what he has to do.
Understandably, he noes not want to publicly disclose the specific details of his plans but suffice to say the squad will be put through a training schedule that has never been experienced in Offaly before: Both in terms of its scientific approach and its intensity.
It will require a mindset change for many players to buy into it but McDonnell will be going with the players who fully commit to it and if that means that there are high profile casualties along the way, so be it.
‘If you do what you always did, you will get what you always got,' he said last week as he outlined his hopes for the future to the Tribune. He didn't say it but the undertone is obvious: Only dramatic change to approach and all aspects of preparation will raise Offaly off the floor. He also stressed that he wasn't condemning any other Offaly manager but was pointing out that change has to be implemented. 'We have to change things and do it differently in terms of how we prepare.'
Emmet McDonnell is a new name to the wider Offaly public, though his achievements with St Mary's Secondary School in Edenderry have earned him deserved respect and admiration.
He has guided the school to unprecedented success in colleges 'A' football - Under his leadership, they won the Leinster and All-Ireland senior 'B' title in 2007, the Leinster senior A title in 2009 and 2012 and a historic All-Ireland senior A title this year: The first school from Offaly to achieve this while they were pipped by Colaiste na Sceilge of Cahirciveen in a heartbreaking All-Ireland final in '09.
He had the school playing fantastic football but apart from this, he has earned his spurs in his native Westmeath, coaching his club at all underage levels and managing Westmeath at U-14, 15, 16 and minor level.
He is currently managing Ballinabrackey in the Meath Intermediate Football Championship and they have easily won their opening two games.
Amazingly he has been coaching teams since he was just sixteen years of age, while he played senior football with Kinnegad for ten years, including in the 1998 county final where they were beaten by Athlone. He has studied the methods of all managers he played under, including well known names such as Stephen Darby, Colm Coyle and Luke Dempsey.
From an early stage, he began compiling a dossier on various drills and training methods and he has continued that throughout his life, regularly traveling throughout Ireland and the UK to observe and study the best practices in all sporting codes.
Appointed as a maths teacher in St Mary's at 20 years of age in 2000, he waited a few years before taking over teams. In 2003, he took over an U-14 side and they went unbeaten in all competitions up to the 2007 All-Ireland senior B title.
Along with people such as Tom Reehill, his brother Gordon McDonnell and former Kildare footballer, Paddy Donoghue, he helped implement the structures that have led to such stunning success at A level and it was his achievements here that brought him to the attention of the Offaly GAA County Board.
A number of very good intercounty footballers have progressed through his hands - Ten former St Mary's students featured in the Offaly v Kildare game this year (9 on the Offaly squad and one on the Kildare panel) while there was one former student on the Meath panel this year.
Anton Sullivan, Sean Pender and Derek Kelly are among the current Offaly players who went through his hands at the school.
In 2007, he knew that they had a squad capable of going well at senior A level.
‘I knew we had the talent to do well when we won the All-Ireland B title. We played a lot of A schools that year and won all our games so I knew we could go well. I think we could have went well in A football in 2007,' he said.
The approach for St Mary's was at a different level than that experienced by most school teams as information about diet, nutrition, conditioning etc were dispersed among the players. Training regularly took place at 7.45 in the morning and occasionally at 6.00am but crucially, each player bought into this.
‘To be successful we had to do things that other teams weren't prepared to do and to operate at a different level of preparation,' he commented.
Early morning training may take place for Offaly but McDonnell said this will depend on factors such as players' lifestyles, location and employment and his plans will be adapted to suit these.
McDonnell was surprised when Offaly's call came but had ambitions of managing at senior intercounty level. He was actually first interviewed for the Offaly minor football manager's job and was going to be offered that - He was particularly honoured to meet the legendary Matt Connor on that selection committee.
However, the goal posts moved after Tom Coffey's shock decision to withdraw as Offaly senior manager and McDonnell was approached and interviewed by the senior selection committee before being offered and accepting the job. He was surprised at the speed of events but absolutely delighted at the opportunity.
He knows where Offaly are and will come up with detailed plans for every aspect of team preparation. His brother Gordon is on board as the strength and conditioning coach and another teacher at St Mary's, Pat Costello, a qualified sports scientist, will be looking after analysis and statistics. He hopes to finalise the rest of his back room team, including selectors, in the coming days but will not be making any rushed decisions as he bids to surround himself with the best men.
Himself and his back room team will be attending as many club games at possible at all levels in the coming months. 'We want to get the best 30 players available in Offaly. It will be open to everyone, including those who were not on the panel last year. We want to identify the best thirty footballers who will commit to the cause. We will look at players who have played minor and U-21 and fallen away. Our key objective is to get the best thirty players who want to represent Offaly.'
‘Want' is the key word in that statement and McDonnell is aware of the impression that not every player has been as committed as he could be in recent years. 'There will not be a closed door for anyone and we will be constantly monitoring the panel. They will be there on merit only and they will be judged at every single training session. Lads will be judged on everything they do.'
The commitment must be absolute. 'You have to want to represent Offaly. It is impossible to turn up and play in Croke Park on a Sunday if you haven't done the work over the previous weeks and months. They are the type of players that we will be going forward with. Players that are into the type of training we are doing, listening to what is said, they are ultimately the players who want to play for Offaly and we will be going in that direction,' he said.
He is aware of Offaly's low standing. 'I understand there is a huge tradition in Offaly and people have been disappointed at results and performances. It is not going to change overnight. I hope the structures we put in place will enable everyone to be more successful. It is not about a five year plan. '
McDonnell will also be taking charge of Offaly U-21s and hopes to bring all strands of Offaly football in the one direction. He also hopes to have some input into the minor team, taking the occasional session and he said: 'We need everyone singing from the one hymn sheet from a preparation and style of football point of view.'
He revealed that he would like to organise a training day for seniors, U-21s and minors where they will train and bond together. 'We need to build up a community spirit,' he said.
He is also aware that time is needed and that it will take twelve months to get Offaly up to the conditioning level of other counties. 'At the end of the second year, we should see the benefits,' said McDonnell who will be operating on a season to season basis.
He will also be constantly evaluating their performance as a management team and won't need to be told by the County Board or media if things are not good enough.
Offaly are currently rooted in Division 4 of the National Football League and while he acknowledged that getting out of this is important, his philosophy will be 'One half at a time, one game at a time'.
He had St Mary's playing a fantastic style of open expansive football but stressed the need to be able to adapt to different styles in different games.
He is aware of the local belief in an 'Offaly brand' of football. 'People have said that the football St Mary's played reminded them of Offaly at their peak but we will need different approaches for different games, depending on who we play. We will have our own style but we will also have to look at the approach of who we are playing and adapt to this if necessary. We have to be flexible and able to adapt to changes within games if needed. You can't have just one game plan and every player will be aware of what is expected of him at different times in a game.'
He doesn't believe in setting specific targets. 'I hope to put structures in place that will allow players to become significantly better. The players have huge passion for Offaly and a real desire to do well. We want to facilitate that. Then we can push on.'
Already McDonnell is putting his plans in place. Offaly can start collective training on November 15th and trial games for players who weren't on the panel last year will be held before that.'
McDonnell's enthusiasm and passion is infectious and if he gets the backing from players and County Board, exciting times could be about to commence.