General Jimmy leads from the front
A total of 3,018 children registered for the 36 GAA summer camps which were held across the county during the holidays. A county official, who was at every camp, reckons that approximately 3,000 of those children wore Donegal jerseys.
âSo what?â says you. âWhatâs the big deal?â Well, in Donegal, it is a cause for celebration. A few years ago, Celtic jerseys were the preferred choice of Donegalâs discerning underage stars. Before Jim McGuinness became senior manager, up to half the children at those camps wore hoops.
There is no doubt that McGuinness has created a new dynamic within his native county. But how has he achieved this stunning turnaround? Managers like McGuinness are often depicted as chief executive figures. The county board looks after administration, finance and logistics. The management team takes care of coaching, video analysis, medical welfare and nutrition. The common misconception is that McGuinness sits at the top of this pyramid, delegating and directing everything that happens below.
Nothing could be further from the truth. McGuinness is a hands-on leader. For example, it was McGuinness who raised the âŹ57,000 which financed Donegalâs five-day training camp in Portugal. It was McGuinness who contacted a list of businessmen and asked them to underwrite the venture.
Whereas some managers are actively involved in a few departments and take a back seat in others, McGuinness is in the thick of everything.
Watch Donegal warming up before a game. The vast majority of managers delegate that task to their backroom team.
Not McGuinness. He is the manager and the coach. McGuinness takes the warm-up.
Although he has received plenty of recognition for his tactical acumen, McGuinnessâs manic work ethic tends to be overlooked.
When Michael Murphy was studying for his final year exams at Dublin City University, McGuinness used to drive to the campus and take his captain for one-to-one training sessions.
McGuinness and Murphy have an incredibly close bond. During the 2012 All Star trip to New York, if you saw McGuinness, you saw Murphy. They were always in each otherâs company.
Last October when Murphy heard that the manager was on the verge of quitting, he immediately organised a playersâ meeting. The players urged McGuinness to stay in charge.
Murphy appreciates that Donegalâs success is contingent on having McGuinness at the helm. With Jim, they swim. Without him, they sink.
Go back to 2010. McGuinness is the county U21 manager. Murphy is his captain. At minor level, the team achieved nothing. When McGuinness tells them at the start of the year that they will win the Ulster title, a couple of the lads burst out laughing.
McGuinness starts a savage training regime. They train twice on a Saturday and twice on Sunday. Reports emerge from within the county that the U21s are working harder than the seniors. The U21s win the Ulster title.
Meanwhile, in the same year, the seniors get trounced by Armagh in Crossmaglen. Jim McGuinness watched that game as a spectator.
I remember talking to him as he left the ground. Both Jim and I knew he was going to be the next manager. His future did not look bright. I asked him where was he going to start. Candid as ever, he said fitness would be his first priority.
No-one could have imagined what Jim was planning. Arsenal striker Lukas Podolski shook his head in disbelief when he heard Donegalâs training regime.
As part of his Masters Degree in Sports Performance at Limerick University, Karl Lacey spent a day at the Emirates Stadium. Alan Clarke, an Irishman who provides the GPS stats for Arsenal, introduced Lacey to Podolski. The German international was fascinated by the GAA.
âLukas asked me what we did for training,â said Lacey. âI was telling him that I had to get up at 6am to drive 40 minutes to Letterkenny so that I would be in the gym for 7am. I would be in the gym until 8.30am.
âThen I would fire a shake into me and get some breakfast. I would be in work at the bank for 9am. Then I would leave at 5pm, jump in the car and go training for three hours. I wouldnât be home until 10 or 11pm. You could just see his jaw dropping,â said Lacey.
The commitment McGuinness has asked of his amateur players is extreme. But look at the competition. Dublin have more than 50 full-time coaches. The county board is buoyed by multi-million euro sponsorship deals. Jim Gavin can recruit the services of Dr Fergus Connolly, the Monaghan man who is the Director of Elite Performance with the San Francisco 49ers.
Donegal have summer camps and development squads. To match Dublin, a county like Donegal must go to the outer limits.
It helps that Jim McGuinness sets the example. Last Saturday marked the first birthday of his twin daughters, Bonnie and Aoibh. But Jim didnât spend the day at home.
He left Glenties shortly after 8am. Donegal were training in Ballybofey. After the training session, the management and players met fans. For two hours, they shook hands and signed jerseys â Donegal jerseys.
Then, most of the players went home. Jim and a select few remained for the press event. After two hours of television and radio interviews, Jim still had to deal with the press. At the end of a long, draining day, he spoke to journalists for 40 minutes. When he got home at 8pm, 12 hours after he had set off, Bonnie and Aoibh were sleeping.
When television viewers watch Jim McGuinness celebrating yet another victory, they could be forgiven for being slightly envious of him. All that glory and acclaim.
But the television cameras never capture the missed birthdays and the lost weekends.
Dublin has a huge population. They have financial and physical muscle. Yet, Donegal and Kerry, two of the wildest and most remote counties in Ireland will contest this yearâs minor and senior All-Ireland finals.
Yes, money helps. But fanaticism is the key ingredient. Kerryâs tradition has created a culture which breeds success.
To create that same environment, Donegal have relied on one man.
One man, who has led them from the front.
