Former Kildare minor boss Brendan Hackett insists TV star Paul Mescal was on the way to becoming their next Glenn Ryan.
Normal People sensation Mescal enjoyed a stunning underage career with Kildare, playing in four Leinster finals in a row between 2013 and 2016.
The half-back won a Leinster minor medal in 2013, captained them to the final in 2014 under Hackett (right) and then lined out in provincial U21 finals in 2015 and 2016.
Ex-Westmeath, Longford and Offaly senior boss Hackett said handing the 2014 minor captaincy to Mescal was a no brainer.
And he’s adamant that if the Maynooth man, 24, had stuck with football he’d be a current Kildare hero like legendary centre-back Ryan.
“There is no question that he would be a current county footballer, absolutely no question about it. He had the ability and the personality to be very successful as a county footballer,” said Hackett.
“But his real desire was to get into the Lir Academy (of Dramatic Art) and that’s a really competitive course with a lot of people applying for it. I believe it’s as much about the interview process going for that as the points you have and they were clearly taken by him.
“That’s what I would have noticed straight away, a confidence coupled with a humility, and the other thing I would say is that I always felt there was a strong ambition in him.
“He had spoken about his desire to get into LIR before he did his Leaving Cert so that was very clearly the direction he wanted to go in.”
Mescal clashed with current Dubs star Con O’Callaghan in the 2013 and 2014 minor finals and they faced off again in the 2016 U21 decider.
O’Callaghan blasted 1-7 in the 2016 tie which Dublin only won after extra-time and Mescal graduated from Lir the following year.
A broken jaw while on GAA duty convinced Mescal to quit though he made a dramatic return on our TV screens as local football talent Connell Waldron in hit drama Normal People.
Current Ballymun Kickhams boss Hackett says there’s no question Mescal had the potential to lock down the number six jersey for years with Kildare, like Ryan did.
He said: “He certainly could have been a Glenn Ryan type figure at centre-back for Kildare. From an inspirational point of view, from an intelligence point of view, that’s where I’d place him, very similar to Kieran McGeeney.
“The leadership qualities of Glenn Ryan and McGeeney would be similar and the cerebral aspects of Cian O’Sullivan of Dublin. That adds up to some player but he was hugely talented.
“He led be example, showed respect, always turned up on time and had the charisma that when he spoke people listened and followed him, he brought them along with him.
“You see underage footballers all the time and you know the ones that are going to make it.
“In my time over minor teams, you were running into David Clifford, Sean O’Shea, Con O’Callaghan, Colm Basquel, I would have put Paul Mescal very much in that company.”
