Former Clare hurler Tony Griffin becomes Kerry footballers’ performance coach

Tony Griffin. Picture: Stephen McCarthy

Former Clare hurler Tony Griffin has come on board as the Kerry senior footballers’ new performance coach.

Griffin was in attendance at Kerry’s draw with Kildare in St Conleth’s Park on Sunday and was in the dressing room following the game. He worked with Jack O’Connor last year when he was in charge of the Lilywhites.

“It’s a joy to be around that environment again,” he said of the Kildare experience in an interview last May. “No matter what interests I’ve developed over the years, my heart is there.”

The Ballyea man, who was performance coach to the Dublin hurlers during Anthony Daly’s time as manager, released his autobiography Screaming At The Sky in 2010 and recently published “The Teenager’s Book of Life”. He co-founded Soar in 2012, a youth-based charity.

Last season, former manager Peter Keane drafted in adventurer Pat Falvey as performance coach.

In his autobiography Keys To The Kingdom, O’Connor wrote about bringing in sports psychologist Declan Coyle in his first spell in charge in the mid-2000s and the resistance to his presence from some of the more established players.

Liam Moggan was sports psychologist to Kerry when they claimed their last All-Ireland SFC title in 2014.

Speaking in December 2020, ex-Kerry footballer Darran O’Sullivan called for Kerry to appoint a sports psychologist and commended O’Connor with first embracing the idea of a mental coach during his time as manager.

“If you look at all their games, how many All-Irelands have Dublin won by more than three or four points?” said O’Sullivan. “Not many. That’s down to their mental toughness. You can say physically that maybe we weren’t as fit as them or as fast, I think that’s bullshit. My thing is, if you’re mentally strong you don’t get tired, you come into it then.”