One hundred and twenty-eight days later, Derry GAA have finally got their man with Paddy Tally set to be confirmed as their new senior football manager.
Tally’s imminent appointment will end over four months of feverish speculation and uncertainty, ever since Mickey Harte called time on his rollercoaster one-year reign on July 8 last.
It’s understood that Derry chiefs did speak to former Dublin defender Philly McMahon but nothing concrete emerged from these discussions.
Instead, the Derry executive has chosen Tyrone native Tally, with reports that his name could go forward for county board ratification as soon as this Thursday night.
This will be Tally’s second outing as an inter-county manager, having previously led Down for three seasons up until 2021, when a heavy defeat to Donegal brought the curtain down on his tenure.
But the Galbally man has made his name as a coach with several counties – including Kerry who will now lose his services to Derry.
Tally was brought in as head coach by Jack O’Connor three years ago and helped the Kingdom to bring back Sam Maguire at the first attempt in 2022, their first All-Ireland in eight seasons.
But after losing last year’s final to Dublin and then falling to Armagh at this year’s semi-final stage, a shake-up in the Kerry coaching set-up culminated in Cian O’Neill coming on board with Tally due to take up a new role as performance coach.
That will not come to pass now.
Tally’s decorated coaching CV includes helping his native Tyrone to their maiden All-Ireland title, under Harte, in 2003. He was later involved when James McCartan’s Down made a left field run to the 2010 All-Ireland final, where they lost to Cork.
Tyrone manager Mickey Harte greets Down manager Paddy Tally in 2020.
He later worked with Kevin Walsh in Galway and steered St Mary’s to a Sigerson Cup title, prior to taking the big managerial leap with Down. However, his time with the Mourne County ended in 2021 after a proposal to extend his three-year term into a fourth season failed to attract sufficient county board support.
This will not be Tally’s first Derry venture: he also coached the county team during Brian McIver’s Oak Leaf tenure. Even though he is a Tyrone native, his appointment is unlikely to spark the same polarised reaction that greeted Harte’s bombshell appointment over a year ago.
After the wild oscillations in results during 2024, from the highs of league Division 1 glory to the chaotic defensive collapses against Donegal and Armagh, it will be intriguing to see if Tally can bring some consistency back to such a talented group.
Tyrone manager Mickey Harte and Paddy Tally hug after the 2003 All-Ireland SFC win as Tyrone’s Peter Loughran (right) celebrates.
As for Derry supporters, they may simply be relieved that the soap opera of recent months is drawing to a close.
The four-month vacuum since Harte’s departure has been filled with speculation linking a host of high-profile names with the position, starting with former manager Rory Gallagher before that trail went cold.
Also linked with the vacancy were ex-Mayo boss James Horan, former Kerry manager Peter Keane (who has subsequently taken charge of Clare) and Down native Mark Doran (who has now joined Davy Burke’s management team in Roscommon) as well as several homegrown potential candidates.
It has been reported that Tally’s backroom team is understood to contain Paul McIver and Enda Muldoon, with speculation that Ryan McMenamin will also join up.