WHEN DECLAN O’SULLIVAN got involved with the Kerry minor side last summer, there was no plan to make it a long-standing formal arrangement.
O’Sullivan’s remit was to focus on the attack, as Kerry sought to tap into the acumen of a player who had enjoyed a glittering career from his senior debut in 2003 to the finale in 2014 when he walked off as an All-Ireland champion.
The plan may have been for O’Sullivan’s time with the squad to be brief but when Kerry flattened Tipperary to become All-Ireland minor kingpins last September, O’Sullivan was still knocking around.
“Declan came in originally just to give a hand for two or three sessions, just to go through bits and pieces with the forward line,” recalled Eamonn Whelan, a selector with the Kerry minor side, last September.
“The two or three sessions turned into every training session since, he didn’t miss a training session.”
O’Sullivan was recruited by Jack O’Connor, the latest in a number of Gaelic football links forged by the pair.
Dromid Pearses club mates, O’Sullivan rose to prominence on Coláiste na Sceilge teams that O’Connor supervised.
When Kerry won All-Ireland senior titles in 2004, 2006 and 2009, O’Sullivan was playing on teams that O’Connor managed.
After the conclusion of O’Sullivan’s playing days, it was natural that O’Connor were there when he dipped his toes into coaching waters for the first time.
Last winter after two seasons where his Kerry minor teams had swept all before them, O’Connor moved up to take charge of the U21 side.
Kerry’s record in the grade has been wretched of late, they have only won two Munster U21 championships since 1999.
When assembling his management team for 2016, O’Connor drafted in O’Sullivan as a selector. Kerry have had to sweat when negotiating their two clashes to date against Tipperary and Limerick but are still standing and gearing up for an EirGrid Munster U21 football final against Cork tonight.
O’Sullivan’s role in the squad is clearly defined and the Kerry players are benefiting.
“He’s a selector and has been one of the top forwards in the county in the last few years,” says Kerry U21 captain Jack Savage, who has chalked up 0-13 to date this spring.
“You learn something new off him nearly every day. He’s good one on one and good talking to the team.
“He wears the Kerry jersey on his sleeve; it’s just all about Kerry and all about winning.
“He was under Jack as well so he brings that winning mentality to the set-up as well.”
Savage is one of the few current Kerry U21′s that had not come under O’Connor’s tutelage previously as he was a minor in 2013.
“I think there’s only a handful that haven’t worked with him before but we’ve all got on well with him so we can’t complain about how things are going.
“His experience and confidence and the confidence he instills in all the players is massive.
“Even the backroom team have won at minor, under-21 and senior and club. They’ve all won something so there’s a good winning habit there.”
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