A FEW SHORT weeks ago, Dessie Farrell already had his 2020 mapped out – or so he thought.
Farrell had signed up to remain in charge of his home club Na Fianna and continue in his role as performance coach with the Dublin hurlers for another year when the surprising news of Jim Gavin’s resignation filtered out.
11 days later, Farrell was confirmed as Gavin’s replacement.
An All-Ireland winning minor and U21 boss, plus Sam Maguire winner during his playing days, he was an obvious choice for the job that Tommy Lyons once famously described as “the biggest gig in town.”
At his first media briefing as Dublin boss at AIG’s offices on North Wall Quay yesterday, Farrell reflected on his decision to take over the highest-profile GAA team in the country.
He emerges out of the shadows and into the scorching spotlight of life as manager of the most dominant team Gaelic football has ever seen.
“It was a big decision, for sure, it’s something that people would say it’s sort of a natural evolution having been involved with underage squads, minor teams and U21s, that type of thing, but still you’re moving up into the Premiership here for sure,” he said.
“And just in terms of my own life and family and work to consider and everything else, I did reflect on it for a while and I spoke to some people.
The big thing was getting family on side and making sure that they were happy with it because I’m going into this with eyes wide open in terms of the scale of what’s involved and the demands that are there.
“I did reflect on it but, ultimately, it’s a fantastic opportunity to work with a great, great group of players – many of whom I’ve known over the years.”
As Farrell takes the Dublin job, he knows what is coming. He’s been inside and watched on from afar. He knows that anything other than All-Ireland glory will be seen as a failure.
Many would shy away. Yet he does not see the expectation and pressure as a burden.
“We’ve been spoilt in Dublin as supporters and I’ve been a supporter myself the last number of years. It has been unprecedented.
“It definitely was something to consider. Ultimately, at the end of the day, I’ve always taken the approach that, there’s two ways to live your life: One, as a timid soul, sort of year by year, month by month, week by week, possibly even hour by hour, as a timid soul.
“Or the other is to perhaps do the things that frighten you at times.
“This thing stimulates me, it challenged me. I love football, working with footballers. Ultimately, now is the time that if I didn’t do it now it would probably never come around again.”
He sits here a mere three years after ruling out the possibility of ever managing his county. When he brought a 14-year stint as CEO of the Gaelic Players Association to an end in 2016, Farrell was asked if he could see himself managing Dublin in the future.
“No, I don’t think so,” came his response.
What has changed since then? “I think it’s timing, probably. That’s probably three years ago now. I think you always have to be very respectful of the incumbents at the time and they don’t need to have someone looking over their shoulder.
“I think that, out of respect to the group that was there and the management team, it wasn’t my place to be saying that I might want to be looking at the job in the near future or something.”
So it was always an ambition in the back of his mind?
“Well, I love football, and I love coaching, and I’m passionate about Dublin football, obviously. It was always something that was in my head whether, with the suchness of life, it might never have come to fruition.
“But, at this point of time, it has and I’m very grateful.”
Farrell confirmed he sat down Gavin who was “very open and very helpful.” Alan Brogan recently opined that both men are similar characters and big on nurturing the person behind the player.
Gavin placed huge importance on the squad values and how they handled themselves away from the field. The new man says he will “definitely” look to retain that sense of responsibility among the group.
They have done a fantastic job of representing the county. I think I have a very similar view in relation to dealing with those players at underage: in some ways at that level it was more about development, not just as footballers but as individuals and people as well.
“The whole idea of building character and developing men of substance was always really important to us in our management team. And obviously the senior management team and the players themselves over the last number of years have taken that to another level and have done a fantastic job and we are very keen to see that continue.”
He followed Gavin into the U21 job too, winning two All-Irelands at that grade (in 2014 and 2017) which matched his predecessor’s record.
There were difficult days along the way – a 2013 Leinster U21 first round defeat to Longford and All-Ireland minor final loss to Tipperary in 2011 chief among them.
When Dublin and Farrell avenged that defeat to the Premier by claiming the All-Ireland in 2012, he admitted the previous season’s loss “hit me really, really badly.”
Has that helped prepare him for challenging times that may lie ahead? “That’s the nature of sport,” he says. “There’s always going to be challenging times. I think in my first year as Dublin minor manager, we got to an All-Ireland final, got beaten in that, won it the second year.
So the lesson I take from that is failure – you can learn a lot from it for sure.
“And one of the challenges with this group is that they’ve been so successful, they haven’t had to endure or encounter that. Success can be a lousy teacher, and there’s an onus on us to be very, very vigilant around how we set ourselves up for the season ahead.”
A large swathe of the current Sky Blues panel have passed through Farrell’s hands at some stage. Of the players that featured in the replay win over Kerry in September, 13 were coached by Farrell between minor, U21, Na Fianna and development squads.
Most of the rest would be familiar with him through the Dublin club scene and his involvement with the GPA. As a former Dublin captain, he’ll instantly command respect.
Last year, Brian Fenton – who played U21 under Farrell in 2014 – described him as “one of my heroes.” He remained close with many players after they ascended to senior ranks.
“Some of them I would have been a little bit closer to than others,” said Farrell yesterday.
“You’d meet them out and about at events or games and different things. Then some others you’d deliberately go out of your way to meet or they would so there has been strong contact.
“In those intervening years you’re always there more as a resource to them, not to pry or step beyond a certain boundary in relation to those types of conversations or discussions. There would have been a lot of contact with many of the players.”
The man who started coaching a year after retirement in 2006 admitted his surprise at the scale of success those players have enjoyed in recent years.
“I’m sure they do it as well, they probably pinch themselves. As mentioned earlier, we’ve been very fortunate in Dublin because I vividly remember the barren years and there was many, many of those. That shouldn’t be lost on supporters.
I’ll be reminding players of that from time to time. That thing is precious. It can move away from you very, very quickly. And once it’s gone it maybe very hard to get back so there is an onus on us all now at this stage to be acutely aware of that.”
The last time a Dublin manager stepped down after a Sam Maguire victory, Pat O’Neill in 1995, the transition didn’t go smoothly. Farrell was a player back then when the squad didn’t take to Mickey Whelan’s methods the season after their triumph.
Is he conscious of the pitfalls that come with walking in the footsteps of such an iconic manager? “I’ve no doubt it’s a strong dressing room. This group, as well as being high-functioning, are highly evolved, I’d imagine not inclined to suffer fools gladly.
“So I’m under no illusions there, but my approach is very simple in relation to that – we’re all in this together.
“I’ve been appointed by the county board now, so for better or for worse, I am who they’ve got, and between us we’ve got to make this work.”
He’s already confirmed that veterans Stephen Cluxton, Michael Darragh Macauley and Diarmuid Connolly will be available for selection this season, while also admitting the “squad does need an injection of new faces and new blood.
“To what extent? I’m not sure. In the initial period of time anyway, that won’t be to the detriment of anyone else. I’m happy to carry an extended squad until we get to figure it out a little bit more.
In the initial period for me, it’s more about sitting back and observing the dynamics. I’m in the privileged position to step into the inner sanctum now, and to get under the bonnet a little bit and figure out all the moving parts to that, the dynamic of play.
“I’ll be listening a lot more than talking. On that basis then, we can make some judgments and assessments of where we’re at in terms of football or performances or even personnel down the road.”
Pat Gilroy was the architect of Dublin’s rise and Jim Gavin hastened the revolution.
Now, it is Dessie Farrell’s turn.
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