Stephen Stack has emerged as the head of a high-profile management team lining itself up to take charge of Kerry.
It has emerged that the former Kerry defender was putting his name forward as manager, with Radio Kerry reporting that Mickey Ned O’Sullivan would be his assistant, Donie Buckley as head coach, Séamus Moynihan as defensive coach, Dara Ó Cinnéide as forwards coach, while Joe O’Connor and Aidan O’Mahony would combine in the area of strength and conditioning.
It appears as though the management team has essentially been built around Buckley, who was part of Seamus McEnaney’s set up in Monaghan for the 2021 season and has never warmed to the ‘front of house’ duties that come with being a manager, and Moynihan, one of the county’s most revered footballers.
Buckley has had two previous stints with Kerry senior management teams under Jack O’Connor and Peter Keane though both were unhappy marriages, with the Castleisland native departing Keane’s backroom team early last year. He remains arguably the most highly-rated coach in the game, however.
While the ticket carries strong credentials, it may be rather top heavy for some with three All-Ireland winning captains on board in O’Sullivan (1975), Moynihan (2000) and Ó Cinnéide (2004) alongside the much-travelled Buckley. The hugely experienced O’Sullivan managed Kerry for three years after Mick O’Dwyer’s lengthy stint came to a close in 1989 while, more recently, he took Limerick to the brink of Munster titles in 2009 and ‘10.
Joe O’Connor was Limerick’s S&C coach when they won the All-Ireland hurling title in 2018 and is based in Tralee, while O’Mahony won five All-Irelands as a player with Kerry from 2004-14.
As a player, Stack won All-Irelands in 1986 and ‘97, his career effectively bookending Kerry’s most barren spell of all. It’s an era that the current drought is starting to rival, however, as the county’s run without the Sam Maguire Cup stretches to an eighth year having won the title just once now since 2009.
His most notable managerial achievement was guiding Austin Stacks to Kerry and Munster titles in 2014 after they had been without a county championship for 20 years.
Just last week, Kerry county board put together a five-man committee led by chairman Tim Murphy to run the rule over candidates for the position with incumbent Keane’s three-year term having officially elapsed with the All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Tyrone last month. Interviews are thought to have already taken place.
Keane is believed to be interested in retaining the position despite the board being prepared to consider other options. O’Connor is also eyeing a third stint having spoken in glowing terms about the allure of the job recently before cutting his ties with Kildare, where he had spent the last two seasons as manager.
Éamonn Fitzmaurice, who steered Kerry to their most recent All-Ireland win in 2014, has distanced himself from returning to the job that he vacated in 2018 at this juncture.
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