“It is a full-time job.”
Former Dublin midfielder Ciaran Whelan believes that the GAA will struggle to get inter-county managers because of its huge time demands.
This coming season will see many new faces take the hot seat as an inter-county manager, as a new generation of bosses are making the step up.
Oisin McConville is taking on the challenge as Wicklow manager, Colm O’Rourke is taking charge of his native county Meath, and Vinny Corey is the new Monaghan boss.
Kevin McStay has came out of retirement to fulfll the vacancy in Mayo, and when you look at the landscape of things, the chopping and changing of managers at inter-county level is quite extreme.
Speaking to RTE, the former Dublin wrecking ball and now TV pundit, Whelan, believes that changes need to be made, or counties will soon find themselves struggling to recruit new coaches and managers.
“When you strip it back, it’s the time that’s involved. When you look at the guys that have gone into it, they’re either retired or teachers.
“I think it’s actually something that is kind of getting out of control. The time factor that’s involved in managing an inter-county team, no matter who it is, is very significant. It is a full-time job.
“Jack O’Connor touched on that when he went back to Kerry last year. Kevin [McStay] is retired from the army and he’s willing to put four years of his life into getting Mayo back to where he needs to get them. It’s a massive job with massive time.
“I think it’s not going to get any better. It’s going to be a challenge for the GAA going forward in that regard.
“You can that Donegal and Roscommon are still on the hunt for managers. Monaghan, Vinny Correy has gone in there, they were on the hunt.
“It’s an interesting dynamic that isn’t going to get any easier in terms of time for people going into those situations.”
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