Canney's Mayo move the latest branch of Corofin’s remarkable coaching tree
Corofin’s Days Sfc Winners: His During Healy Playing Their Win Celebrating Balintubber Club Canney Over With Joe Keeper Connacht Thomas After
In Corofin the thirst for coaching excellence always traversed geographical borders. To build the empire they looked out. In a bid to replicate it, their rivals look in.
Donegal native Paul McGettigan came to the parish through marriage and managed them to their debut All-Ireland title in 1998. Their return to the summit in 2015 was steered by Mayo’s Stephen Rochford. During the three-in-a-row from 2018 to 2020, soccer coach Shane Keegan was invited in to take a series of sessions.
Now Rochford’s Mayo have come calling for one of their own. 2015 All-Ireland club winner Joe Canney has joined Kevin McStay’s ticket ahead of the 2024 campaign.
This is part of an overwhelming trend. Galway All-Star Kieran Fitzgerald was a key defender in that victorious side and is now coaching Mayo club Garrymore, aided by another former Galway footballer in Ciáran McGrath.
Corner-forward Michael Farragher is currently coaching Galway intermediate semi-finalists Monivea-Abbey. Moycullen are coached by highly regarded Corofin man Kieran Murphy, a selector with the Mayo U20s this year. 2022 intermediate champions Dunmore MacHales are managed by another member of that victorious 2015 side, Gary Delaney. His team-mate when they overcame Slaughtneil eight years ago was Justin Burke, currently coach of Galway SFC semi-finalists Milltown.
The list goes on and on. Aidan Fahy, part of the breakthrough outfit that secured an All-Ireland club title in 1998, was manager of another senior club Leitir Móir this year. Several of that group, such as Ray Silke, Michael Donnellan and Martin McNamara, have been embedded in coaching Galway underage and senior teams since. The North Galway club produces coaches at an astonishing rate. Why?
“That grá for it is just bred into you,” explains Ciáran McGrath. The former Corofin captain also played for the Galway footballers and Mayo hurlers, but one code always took precedence.
“Football above all else. It is like it is all you know, but not everyone can be the Corofin senior manager. So, you serve your trade elsewhere. It would be a shame for a guy to finish playing and not give back that expertise somewhere.”
The production line started with Frank Morris and eight Galway minor titles in a row in the 1990s. He saw a void and poured his heart into filling it. Underage coaching became the priority; every shoulder went to the wheel. For the primary schools Corofin ran an exhibition competition, the Raferty Cup. Cyril Mannion of Belclare National School, embraced it. In 1995 Mannion was elected to the organising committee of the Cumann na mBunscol. Football was their curriculum.
Current Corofin stalwarts Gary Sice and Jason Leonard teach in Belclare now. The torch is passed on. The torch never quenches.
“It is very hard as a young lad not to learn from Frank Morris,” says McGrath. “Small things he coached when we were younger, I still do now. It has lasted the test of time.
“It was all skills and decision making. Making the right decision on the ball, Frank Morris will pull you back and redo it. Instead of letting it run away, he was big on decision making even at a young age. He would make you do it again. Instead of forcing it down the line with your right foot, he would stress coming back on your weaker side or working a handpass inside. That is a large reason why Corofin are so good on the ball.
“I’m sure if you talk to Joe Canney, he’ll tell you his mentor is Dave Morris. He is very organised and driven, the same way as a player. He was definitely mentored by Dave Morris, who in my opinion is the best coach in Gaelic football. Dave is an extended version of his father. Joe was under his mentorship for three or four years.”
Morris is currently an analyst for the Galway hurlers under Henry Shefflin and runs leading data analytics company GAA Insights. They work with several inter-county teams in both codes, yet his prowess reaches far beyond sums and stats. Players are particularly impressed with his work coaching the tackle. Even in their childhood, McGrath recalls Morris had a remarkable ability to run an entire session. Locally, he is fondly known as ‘Drills’.
With Corofin his influence always extended across the analysis room and on field training. His genius is a resource the club still tap into now. When Rochford first took over, he and Morris were both listed as joint-managers. Morris later slipped into the background and was on the mic for games. Joe Canney was his runner when the GAA still allowed maor foirnes.
Canney was involved with St Brendan’s in the Galway intermediate championship this year. Their campaign came to an end in the quarter-finals. His relationship with Rochford makes Mayo a natural fit.
Meanwhile, Corofin compete for their first Galway SFC since 2019. They overcame rivals Tuam Stars and Mountbellew-Moylough in the quarter-final. On Saturday, it's Milltown in the last four. Former Ballintubber manager Kevin Johnson is in charge and on his ticket is Brian Silke as well as Mike Comer and Terry Payne, both of whom were selectors during the three-in-a-row triumph.
The coaching tree keeps growing.