Emmet McDonnell celebrates with Daniel Flynn after St Mary's, Edenderry won the Hogan Cup final earlier this year ... McDonnell has now been appointed as manager of the Offaly senior football team. Picture: Jeff Harvey/HR Photo.

Bold move by Offaly GAA as McDonnell is given senior job

Published: Thu 16 Aug 2012, 5:32 PM

Last updated: Thu 16 Aug 2012, 6:57 PM

Offaly GAA chiefs made a bold move last weekend by appointing Emmet McDonnell as the county's new senior football manager. McDonnell guided St Mary's, Edenderry to the All-Ireland Colleges senior football title earlier this year - the first time an Offaly school captured the coveted Hogan Cup. A native of Kinnegad, McDonnell has led St Mary's to Leinster senior success on two occasions, in addition to an All-Ireland Colleges senior 'B' title. McDonnell is highly respected for the success he has brought to St Mary's, but his appointment to the Offaly job still came as a surprise due to his lack of experience at senior level. The special county board selection committee charged with the task of appointing a manager recommended McDonnell for the job, having been very impressed by him in their interview process. The sub committee consisted of county board chairman Pat Teehan, secretary Martin Boland, former Offaly and Kildare footballer Dave Kavanagh and ex-county board chairman Fr Sean Heaney. Although McDonnell still has to be ratified by a full county board meeting, this is expected to be a mere formality. Interestingly, McDonnell had been nominated for the job of Offaly minor manager, before the Westmeath man emerged as the special committee's choice to take over as senior and U21 boss. Aged just 33, McDonnell's stock has risen rapidly because of the historic success he brought to St Mary's. And Offaly will be hoping he can follow in the footsteps of the newer breed of young managers now in vogue at inter-county level. A teacher in St Mary's, McDonnell played football for Coralstown/Kinnegad for over ten years. He has since carved out a reputation as an innovative and well-organised coach. McDonnell is currently the manager of Meath side Ballinabrackey this year, having taken over the reigns from Pascal Kellaghan last autumn, with Kellaghan becoming the Offaly U21 football manager. Ironically, McDonnell now replaces Kellaghan as Offaly U21 manager as he is going to combine the senior and U21 roles with the Faithful County. Kellaghan oversaw a commendable campaign with the U21s this year, as Offaly defeated Meath and Kildare, before losing out to Louth in the Leinster semi-finals. The Rhode man is likely to be disappointed not to be given the chance to continue his work with the U21s. Offaly started the 2012 season with Gerry Cooney as senior manager. He resigned after a very disappointing run of results, which saw Offaly relegated from Division 3 of the Allianz Football League. Tom Coffey was appointed as interim manager for the duration of the 2012 championship, and the former Rhode boss expressed an interest in taking the Offaly job for the next three years. However, Coffey then indicated that he did not wish to be considered for the role due to work commitments. The Offaly football manager's position has seen an extremely high turnover rate in recent years. McDonnell is the county's 10th football manager in a decade, and their fifth since January 2009. McDonnell's younger brother Gordon is set to join his backroom team as a strength and conditioning coach. His selectors will be finalised at a later date. With a Westmeath man now in charge of Offaly, it's probable that it will be a case of vice versa for at least the 2012 season. Clara's Pat Flanagan has completed two full seasons in charge of Westmeath and, although a meeting which had been expected to rubber-stamp his reappointment was postponed last Wednesday night, he is still thought likely that he will continue in the role.