MARK HARTE WAS standing looking up at the treetops of Pomeroy Forest when he witnessed Gavin ‘Horse’ Devlin’s talent for identifying the right thing to say at the right time.
The Tyrone U21 team were on a team building day, climbing trees while tethered to harnesses. It was a typical exercise designed to identify those that needed to take a leap of faith, and showing what can be achieved as a team.
Joe ‘Shrub’ Campbell, a granite-hard Dromore lad, wasn’t the type they thought would get cold feet.
“But he froze,” recalls Harte.
“He couldn’t go. This was going on for ages and you were thinking that he had to come down again.
“We wanted to give him space and time, but he didn’t look like he was going to do it. And then Horse just came through everybody and said, ‘Shrub, it’s like this; if you jump off that ledge, we are going to win this All-Ireland.’
“And within two seconds, Shrub had jumped off the ledge.”
An early example of leadership. And Devlin’s prophecy came true; by the end of the year, Tyrone were U21 All-Ireland champions for 2001.
*****
This weekend is just another odd occasion in a winter and spring full of them.
At Devlin’s first league game as Louth manager in Tullamore in late January, he was looking down the line at Mickey Harte with an Offaly cap on.
14 years together as a management and coaching ticket, several years as player and manager, all changed.
On Saturday afternoon, it is Derry that Devlin faces.
The county that he and Harte took over when they left Louth after three seasons of clear and incremental progress.
The county that Harte and Devlin brought to a Division 1 league title in March 2024, before the following month they suffered a confidence-crushing defeat to Donegal that opened a trapdoor on their season and their future in that county.
Harte went to Offaly. Derry then followed up with a season under Paddy Tally where they simply couldn’t win a game. Devlin went back to Louth to work as underage director of football.
Louth team won the Leinster championship last year. Ger Brennan finished up as manager later that summer. Devlin took over.
And when he looks down the line in Ardee on Saturday, he will see the new Derry manager, the third consecutive Tyrone man to hold that post and his 1998 All-Ireland winning minor teammate – Ciaran Meenagh.
Back then, Devlin stood out.
The minor trials at that time were a series of challenge matches between regional teams. When Mark Harte’s West Tyrone met East Tyrone, there was a constant commentary playing on the pitch.
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Mark Harte. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
“I just remember this fella who would never stop talking. I never heard the likes of it. In trials, normally you are so nervous, so preoccupied with your own performance.
“But Horse never quit. It was almost like he assumed that these were his teammates, they were going to win and that they needed a general. Someone to direct them.
“There were people from clubs he might never have played with, but he was organising and directing them. ‘You drop in.’ ‘You cover me.’
“All these commands at 17. I’d never seen anything like it.”
At that time in the mid-late ‘90s, the fashion was for an attacker to drop deep and become a third midfielder. When Devlin’s own man did so, he would stay put, sit in front of the full-back line, and use his reading of the game to keep a structure on the defence.
In seeing this, the Tyrone minor management of Mickey Harte and Fr Gerard McAleer decided to leave him to it. The first Gaelic football sweeper was born.
More than that, Devlin stood out for the times. He was an intensely emotional figure who, at times, could barely believe his luck that he was playing for his county.
“On the pitch, there are very few who took their football as serious teammate then off the pitch, there are few that take themselves less serious,” says Harte.
“He’s always engaging and good company. So warm and supportive as a teammate. I couldn’t speak highly enough of him.
“He could get in tears at times. It meant so much to him and he was comfortable telling you how much he thought of the group. At that age, it was a rare thing because we are built on not showing emotion and not showing affection.
“He was quite the opposite and would let you know on no uncertain terms. He just reflected that back.”
As a player, he won two All-Ireland senior medals in 2003 and 2005. His first was a measure of how important Mickey Harte felt he was. Suspended after a stamp on Laois player Colm Parkinson in the league final, he was restored to the line-up instantly after for the All-Ireland semi-final against Kerry.
Devlin celebrates Tyrone's first All-Ireland in 2003. INPHO
INPHO
After winning in 2005, he lost his place in the team and never truly regained it. He finished playing while still in his 20s, going straight into coaching.
He helped Newbridge to a Derry intermediate championship title in 2007 and became manager straight after for three seasons.
He then managed Kildress to a Tyrone intermediate championship in 2011, before being added to Harte’s Tyrone backroom team in September 2012.
Throughout his 14 seasons with Harte, he also managed a host of Derry clubs, including Bellaghy and The Loup for a brief period.
Along with Paul Bradley, they won Slaughtneil’s last Derry title in 2020. Devlin also was in charge of Magherafelt and, along with Chrissy McKaigue, they managed his home club Ardboe.
When Harte and Devlin were relieved of their Tyrone duties, they went to Louth, instantly importing some of the Tyrone values and culture. Their first move was to make the Louth training base of Darver more like Tyrone’s Garvaghey.
“I remember one of the first meetings we had with Mickey and Gavin. They were talking about Darver and how this was our home, we were going to spend a lot of time there,” said Louth’s Bevan Duffy.
“How we wanted to make the place welcoming and (as) comfortable as it could be for us. When we arrived up there, they wanted to have lights on and the dressing rooms warm, showers warm, food there and all that stuff.
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“The whole thing with them was raising standards. Within the group, within Louth football and part of that was the set-up that was there.
“In fairness to the county board, they rowed in behind them big time and gave them whatever they wanted. It had an impact, definitely.”
They achieved promotion in their first two seasons and finished third in Division 2 in 2023, reaching a Leinster final that season before they departed for Derry.
For those on the outside, Devlin’s return to Louth came as a surprise. But not to Mark Harte.
“Well, it didn’t surprise me. I think any group would be glad to have him. When he joins a group, he pours himself into it, every sinew in his body is going into it,” Harte said.
“I know that’s what he brings. I saw it first hand in terms of what he did with my father. He is as close to a fourth son as Daddy would have. That loyalty, that trust is what you get with Horse.
“So whenever the opportunity came to Louth, the people of Louth would be well aware of his attributes, so it was an easy fit. The players know what he brings and what he gives.
“You can’t fake that. Horse gives you everything. He has that natural ability to get the best out of people. Whether that is a coach or manager, he brings the X-Factor.”
At Devlin’s unveiling, he found himself in front of the microphones without Mickey Harte beside him.
Devlin with Mickey Harte, who he managed alongside for 14 seasons. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
“I stayed with him for 14 years – it was always a small management team that we had,” Devlin said. “It was me and Mickey primarily, most of the time, just the two of us, so we had a really close working relationship.
“We were involved together in every facet between the coach and the manager. So I’m very familiar with the ongoings as a coach and a manager.”
“Look, I’ve probably done the longest apprenticeship in modern history,” he joked. “So if I’m not ready at this stage, I’ll probably never be ready.”
His return wasn’t a surprise to Duffy, either.
“Everybody would have expected he was going to be the man to come in,” said Duffy, who retired over the winter, having won the Leinster title under Ger Brennan.
“The general consensus among the players is that they wanted him back.
“Maybe at the time when he and Mickey went to Derry, I don’t know how much he wanted to do it really. I don’t know. Did he regret it in the end?”
Either way, here he is. Embracing his past, looking to the future with Louth.
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'You can’t fake that. Horse gives you everything. He brings the X-factor'
MARK HARTE WAS standing looking up at the treetops of Pomeroy Forest when he witnessed Gavin ‘Horse’ Devlin’s talent for identifying the right thing to say at the right time.
The Tyrone U21 team were on a team building day, climbing trees while tethered to harnesses. It was a typical exercise designed to identify those that needed to take a leap of faith, and showing what can be achieved as a team.
Joe ‘Shrub’ Campbell, a granite-hard Dromore lad, wasn’t the type they thought would get cold feet.
“But he froze,” recalls Harte.
“He couldn’t go. This was going on for ages and you were thinking that he had to come down again.
“We wanted to give him space and time, but he didn’t look like he was going to do it. And then Horse just came through everybody and said, ‘Shrub, it’s like this; if you jump off that ledge, we are going to win this All-Ireland.’
“And within two seconds, Shrub had jumped off the ledge.”
An early example of leadership. And Devlin’s prophecy came true; by the end of the year, Tyrone were U21 All-Ireland champions for 2001.
*****
This weekend is just another odd occasion in a winter and spring full of them.
At Devlin’s first league game as Louth manager in Tullamore in late January, he was looking down the line at Mickey Harte with an Offaly cap on.
14 years together as a management and coaching ticket, several years as player and manager, all changed.
On Saturday afternoon, it is Derry that Devlin faces.
The county that he and Harte took over when they left Louth after three seasons of clear and incremental progress.
The county that Harte and Devlin brought to a Division 1 league title in March 2024, before the following month they suffered a confidence-crushing defeat to Donegal that opened a trapdoor on their season and their future in that county.
Harte went to Offaly. Derry then followed up with a season under Paddy Tally where they simply couldn’t win a game. Devlin went back to Louth to work as underage director of football.
Louth team won the Leinster championship last year. Ger Brennan finished up as manager later that summer. Devlin took over.
And when he looks down the line in Ardee on Saturday, he will see the new Derry manager, the third consecutive Tyrone man to hold that post and his 1998 All-Ireland winning minor teammate – Ciaran Meenagh.
Back then, Devlin stood out.
The minor trials at that time were a series of challenge matches between regional teams. When Mark Harte’s West Tyrone met East Tyrone, there was a constant commentary playing on the pitch.
“I just remember this fella who would never stop talking. I never heard the likes of it. In trials, normally you are so nervous, so preoccupied with your own performance.
“But Horse never quit. It was almost like he assumed that these were his teammates, they were going to win and that they needed a general. Someone to direct them.
“There were people from clubs he might never have played with, but he was organising and directing them. ‘You drop in.’ ‘You cover me.’
“All these commands at 17. I’d never seen anything like it.”
At that time in the mid-late ‘90s, the fashion was for an attacker to drop deep and become a third midfielder. When Devlin’s own man did so, he would stay put, sit in front of the full-back line, and use his reading of the game to keep a structure on the defence.
In seeing this, the Tyrone minor management of Mickey Harte and Fr Gerard McAleer decided to leave him to it. The first Gaelic football sweeper was born.
More than that, Devlin stood out for the times. He was an intensely emotional figure who, at times, could barely believe his luck that he was playing for his county.
“On the pitch, there are very few who took their football as serious teammate then off the pitch, there are few that take themselves less serious,” says Harte.
“He’s always engaging and good company. So warm and supportive as a teammate. I couldn’t speak highly enough of him.
“He could get in tears at times. It meant so much to him and he was comfortable telling you how much he thought of the group. At that age, it was a rare thing because we are built on not showing emotion and not showing affection.
“He was quite the opposite and would let you know on no uncertain terms. He just reflected that back.”
As a player, he won two All-Ireland senior medals in 2003 and 2005. His first was a measure of how important Mickey Harte felt he was. Suspended after a stamp on Laois player Colm Parkinson in the league final, he was restored to the line-up instantly after for the All-Ireland semi-final against Kerry.
After winning in 2005, he lost his place in the team and never truly regained it. He finished playing while still in his 20s, going straight into coaching.
He helped Newbridge to a Derry intermediate championship title in 2007 and became manager straight after for three seasons.
He then managed Kildress to a Tyrone intermediate championship in 2011, before being added to Harte’s Tyrone backroom team in September 2012.
Throughout his 14 seasons with Harte, he also managed a host of Derry clubs, including Bellaghy and The Loup for a brief period.
Along with Paul Bradley, they won Slaughtneil’s last Derry title in 2020. Devlin also was in charge of Magherafelt and, along with Chrissy McKaigue, they managed his home club Ardboe.
When Harte and Devlin were relieved of their Tyrone duties, they went to Louth, instantly importing some of the Tyrone values and culture. Their first move was to make the Louth training base of Darver more like Tyrone’s Garvaghey.
“I remember one of the first meetings we had with Mickey and Gavin. They were talking about Darver and how this was our home, we were going to spend a lot of time there,” said Louth’s Bevan Duffy.
“How we wanted to make the place welcoming and (as) comfortable as it could be for us. When we arrived up there, they wanted to have lights on and the dressing rooms warm, showers warm, food there and all that stuff.
“The whole thing with them was raising standards. Within the group, within Louth football and part of that was the set-up that was there.
“In fairness to the county board, they rowed in behind them big time and gave them whatever they wanted. It had an impact, definitely.”
They achieved promotion in their first two seasons and finished third in Division 2 in 2023, reaching a Leinster final that season before they departed for Derry.
For those on the outside, Devlin’s return to Louth came as a surprise. But not to Mark Harte.
“Well, it didn’t surprise me. I think any group would be glad to have him. When he joins a group, he pours himself into it, every sinew in his body is going into it,” Harte said.
“I know that’s what he brings. I saw it first hand in terms of what he did with my father. He is as close to a fourth son as Daddy would have. That loyalty, that trust is what you get with Horse.
“So whenever the opportunity came to Louth, the people of Louth would be well aware of his attributes, so it was an easy fit. The players know what he brings and what he gives.
“You can’t fake that. Horse gives you everything. He has that natural ability to get the best out of people. Whether that is a coach or manager, he brings the X-Factor.”
At Devlin’s unveiling, he found himself in front of the microphones without Mickey Harte beside him.
“I stayed with him for 14 years – it was always a small management team that we had,” Devlin said. “It was me and Mickey primarily, most of the time, just the two of us, so we had a really close working relationship.
“We were involved together in every facet between the coach and the manager. So I’m very familiar with the ongoings as a coach and a manager.”
His return wasn’t a surprise to Duffy, either.
“Everybody would have expected he was going to be the man to come in,” said Duffy, who retired over the winter, having won the Leinster title under Ger Brennan.
“The general consensus among the players is that they wanted him back.
“Maybe at the time when he and Mickey went to Derry, I don’t know how much he wanted to do it really. I don’t know. Did he regret it in the end?”
Either way, here he is. Embracing his past, looking to the future with Louth.
*****
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