WHEN HE WALKS out onto the Croke Park sideline on Sunday, Mickey Harte is aiming to become one of a select band of managers to have won a provincial title outside of his home county.
It’s not uncommon, but it is rare nonetheless. Perhaps the most impressive feat as it was achieved across two codes was by Anthony Cunningham who brought Galway to their first Leinster hurling title in 2012, and later won the Connacht football championship with Roscommon in 2019.
John Maughan brought Munster glory to Clare footballers in 1992, and while with his native Mayo, captured Connacht titles in 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2004.
Mick O’Dwyer brought his own winning habits when he was manager of Kildare, winning their first Leinster title in 42 years in 1998 and following it up in 2000.
He later fetched up in Laois and steered them all the way to the provincial crown in 2003.
At a time of great flux in that province, Páidí ÓSé turned up unexpectedly in Westmeath in time for the 2004 season and captured their only Delaney Cup in 2004.
Davy Fitzgerald has been a serial winner with Clare and Waterford in Munster and Wexford in Leinster.
While all of those triumphs had impressive elements, it can be argued that Harte’s aim of ending Dublin’s 12-year stranglehold of Leinster is the most difficult, especially as he took over the Wee County in 2021 when they were in Division 4.
Despite Harte’s overall record, it might surprise some to learn that this is his eighth provincial final in all, in his 21st season of managing at senior level.
While the Tyrone team that Harte was in charge of changed the face of Gaelic football and he introduced many coaching innovations, the Ulster road was always covered with landmines and potholes.
They won the Anglo-Celt in his first season in charge, 2003, but it might have been different as they fell badly in arrears to Down in the final before rescuing a replay in which they were convincing winners.
Tyrone won finals in 2007, 2009 and 2010, before managing back to back successes again in 2016 and 2017.
The only Ulster final he lost happened to be the 2005 decider, when Armagh beat them in a replay in Croke Park.
In taking over Louth in 2021, he came in for the straight knockout championship in Covid times and they took Offaly to extra-time before being beaten.
He got his first Leinster win in 2022 over Carlow when they hit five goals but were knocked out by Kildare, before ultimately exiting the qualifiers in Round 1 to Cork.
This year, with the team in a run of strong form in Division 2, they have achieved back-to-back victories in championship, which backs up his long-held theory that you need to be competing in a high league in order to have realistic championship aspirations.
When Harte and Tyrone parted ways, his overall record as manager was worth scrutiny given the 18 seasons he had put down.
In all, he took charge for 321 games, winning 213 of them, a winning rate of 66%.
By comparison, and this is the benchmark, Jim Gavin’s eight seasons with Dublin will perhaps never be bettered with an 83% win rate.
If there is a comparison to be made in terms of longevity, Sean Boylan’s 23 years in charge is the obvious one, and his rate was 64%.
Go through other sports and the picture of other long-serving coaches is fascinating in how their win percentage is so similar.
Vittorio Pozzo had a managerial career of 36 seasons during which he managed the Italian national team, Torino and Milan. Using his ‘Metodo’ system of players lined up in pyramid formation, he achieved a 67% win rate.
The Glasgow soccer clubs also had a record of long-serving managers, and not altogether surprisingly had a strong win ratio. Bill Struth managed Rangers from 1920 to 1954 and had a 66% win rate.
Willie Maley’s 43 years in charge of Celtic? 64% wins.
Jock Stein, and the quarter of a century he had? 64%.
27 years of Alex Ferguson at Manchester United? 59%.
Rinus Michels and his 32 years stand at 55%.
The highest win record in basketball, a sport notorious for travelling teams just about fulfilling fixtures, belongs to Phil Jackson during his spells with Chicago Bulls and La Lakers, with a 70% win rate.
While to bring it up to date, Steve Kerr has taken charge of 703 games for the Golden State Warriors and has won 66%.
If we change the framing of Gaelic football to include just championship matches, it’s surprisingly similar.
At the very top of the tree is Jim Gavin. There’s nobody even close. He took charge of Dublin for 48 championship games and won 44, leaving him with a win ratio of 92%. It should also be noted that the other four games were the All-Ireland semi-final loss to Donegal in 2014, while they beat Mayo after replays in 2015 and 2016, and caught Kerry in the 2019 final replay.
Second place is tied.
Jack O’Connor has spent nine seasons in charge of Kerry and he has collected six Munster titles as a measure of consistency in their own backyard.
His win record of 83% is matched by Jim McGuinness. In four years of taking Donegal he reached the Ulster final each year. The most notable thing about that was that prior to his arrival, bring drawn in the provisional quarter-final was a curse for Ulster teams, but McGuinness’s team made short work of that myth in 2011 and 2012.
James Horan is another who brought consistency within his own province. He managed Mayo in 44 championship games, winning 33 of them to make a 75% win record. In two four-year spells, he brought Mayo to the Nestor Cup on six occasions.
No manager has taken charge of more championship fixtures however, than Harte, who goes into his 115th game this Sunday with the Leinster final against Dublin as Louth manager.
He has experienced victory on 74 occasions, in a straight run of 21 seasons beginning in 2003. His win rate in championship stands at 65%.
A win this Sunday would squeeze another percentage point up, but would arguably be his finest hour as a manager.
