The power behind the Kingdom’s throne
And even then he liked it.
Two years prior to that last playing visit to Croke Park on All-Ireland Final day, Ó Sé had coached West Kerry to county championship success. In the intervening 19 years he has tasted bitterness and success in his time at the helm of the proudest and most demanding footballing county in Ireland.
Leading the Kingdom to the Sam Maguire 11 years after the win against the Northerners counts as one of his greatest feats greater even than the replay win over Galway in 2000. But with the capitulation to Meath in 2001, coupled with last year's decider failure to Armagh, it's hard not to feel that Ó Sé is now at the most critical stage of his career.
Nobody knows what he might do if the team were to fail again, but it's likely he hasn't yet given any serious consideration to his future. He says that he "hadn't time" to think beyond this game.
From what I know of him, he would find it very difficult to give up. Football has always been his way of life. That win over Tyrone brought him his eighth All-Ireland medal and gave Kerry the satisfaction of another three-in-a-row, after the calamity of the 1982 defeat by Offaly.
But Ó Sé had already given thought to such an eventuality. He realised that his own playing career was heading towards twilight, though his love of the game remained as strong as when he played with St Brendans and St Michaels in Listowel.
Management had already been explored with the West Kerry venture of 1984, leading to the Kerry captaincy of 1985.
"It was a very historic win for the peninsula, not having won it after 50 years. An amount of people had a go at it and failed," he admits. "It wasn't that we didn't have the material back here, because we always managed to produce very good footballers. It was a matter of somebody getting hold of them and leading from the front. Luckily enough, I was playing with Kerry at the time and I got the respect of the players."
With his playing days over, the county beckoned. By the early nineties he became involved with the Kerry U-21s and, following a successful run, was brought in with Seamus MacGearailt to manage the senior team.
When asked if he felt satisfied with the level of success achieved since then, he hesitates briefly before responding. Mindful of the trouble which greeted his colourful description of Kerry followers, he comments: "I have to be careful how I say this! We set very high standards for ourselves. It's a good policy. We are a very demanding people and I suppose in any other county, having been in around the house for as many years as we have been, most people would be happy. But Kerry certainly demand the best. There's no doubt about it."
At the time of his controversial comments, Ó Sé also alluded to the fact that he had been worried prior to meeting Armagh in the All-Ireland final. By way of explanation, he pointed out that it would always be evident from watching players train whether or not they were "tuned in".
"Coming up to a game, you marry the physical and the mental side of it. When you watch their movements in training, their body language will tell you things. Having been through it myself so many times as a player, I think like the players. The only difference is that I don't play the game. I'm in there with them and it knocks every bit as much out of me. The training of the team, going through the motions, takes as much energy out of me. I'm totally and utterly engrossed in it.
"At that point, coming up to the All-Ireland, I had a little bit of a doubt, yes."
So what of the body language now? The response is positive.
"Kerry have made an unbelievably major effort in training in the last two weeks. I'd say we have had some of the best training nights in a long time. Whether that's an indication or not, you never know. As well as that, there has been a lot of jockeying for positions. A lot of places up for grabs, from the goalie out. Pressure was being put on players by others challenging for positions, which was good.
"As to whether we are as good or better than last year, it's hard to say. Kerry will always produce good football and at times they will be exceptional, but you never know. But most of the time when Kerry get to Croke Park they play football up there and we'd be hoping for the same thing tomorrow.
"Our goal at the start of the year was to win back the Munster championship. We didn't speak of All-Irelands or anything else. It was the one and only thing that we concentrated on. After we achieved that we looked forward to reaching the All-Ireland final. We have one game out of the way and another game, which is the real big game.
"We have 70 minutes to produce football that we haven't produced in a long time. We need that to beat these fellows."
When Kerry played Tyrone in the NFL in Killarney, the home side were below strength and in developmental mode. It didn't reveal a lot about the relative merits of the teams, but Páidí gained a better appreciation of the Northerners after they "tore Laois asunder" in the League final.
"Okay, Down pushed them hard, and so did Derry, but Ulster is like that. Monaghan beat Armagh and Fermanagh put out Donegal, so I wouldn't pay much heed to the fact that Tyrone had two draws. The counties have unbelievable knowledge of each other up there. None of them fear each other. I'm convinced that's the reason why a lot of games can be banana skins for big teams.
"The way I'd be judging Tyrone is that they have consistently challenged over the last few years and they're getting to know their way around Croke Park. Winning the last two National Leagues, playing in the higher bracket of the League in the fast lane, all that pays off for them. And the success they've had at underage level must also stand to them. Not only do they have a strong panel of players, but they are very experienced."
The fact that Tyrone had little test from Fermanagh has no bearing on tomorrow's game, he suggests. What matters is that Mickey Harte's men have endured a much tougher campaign than Kerry.
"We had an easy game against Tipperary in Tralee and got a tough enough game against Limerick. It was the same against Roscommon. Immediately after that game and for a day or two, you would have been very disappointed. And I made no secret of the fact, because it was there for everybody to see that we did leak a few goals and all that," he says.
"Nobody knows that better than the players themselves.
"But during my time, this famous Kerry team that I played with, we leaked a big amount of scores against Offaly in 1980 in an All-Ireland semi-final. Matt Connor, and Gerry Carroll from midfield, got goals and we conceded something like 4-11, but we still went on and won the All-Ireland.
"These things can happen. It's a matter of players and management taking things on board, thinking it out and making sure it doesn't happen a second time."
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