Mighty Mac: Jim McGuinness

In just three years Jim McGuinness has turned Donegal from also-rans to GAA juggernauts.

At just 40 Jim McGuinness might just be the most intriguing and important manager/coach in Irish sport. He has a drive, an attention to detail and a charisma that rivals any of his professional colleagues and he now has a winning record to match them too. It’s no wonder that his skills are now being employed in sports far away from GAA, such as golf and soccer.

It all began, of course, in the GAA. As a player McGuinness won an All-Ireland as a teenager with Donegal in 1992, as well as winning three Sigerson Cups and a Donegal club title in a career that spanned well over a decade.

But it is as a mentor, manager and psychologist that McGuinness really made his name. McGuinness was coaching teams from the age of 18 but the real conversion on the road to managerial greatness happened in 2004 when McGuinness suffered an horrific injury in a club game. A year out with torn cruciate ligament, a broken a leg and a smashed kneecap, all from one incident, left him sitting at home in Glenties in a reflective mood.

To lift him from his funk, Hughie Molly asked McGuinness to coach the Naomh Conaill senior teams. Within a year, McGuinnes had led them to a first county title in four decades. It was at Naomh Conaill that he developed the style we are so familiar with today. A system that involves huge levels of fitness, commitment, tracking back and no shortage of skill to crush the opposition.

After being knocked back a few times for the senior job in Donegal, McGuinnes got a go at the Under 21s, leading them to an All-Ireland final in 2010 and that same summer he was appointed to the big job.

That summer Donegal had played two, lost two and exited the Championship on June 26 to Armagh in the first round of the qualifiers. It was as low an ebb as the county could fall to.

The McGuinness effect was instant. The 2011 League saw them promoted to Division 1 and with a win over Antrim on May 15 2011, Jim McGuinness won his first Ulster Championship match as boss. He hasn’t lost one since.

That year the Donegal system was more defensively focused and after a thriller against Kildare they eventually bowed out at the semi-final stage to Dublin.

McGuinness went away, tweaked a few things and there was an air of inevitability about it last year as Donegal swept through Ulster and the All-Ireland series to bring Sam back to Donegal for the first time in 20 years. It led to Jimmy-mania, with ‘Jimmy Winning Matches’ the song of that GAA summer.

The closed season saw McGuinness become a performance consultant at Glasgow Celtic and he was also mentioned in conjunction with helping Paul McGinley and the European Ryder Cup team. His ability to coax greatness from others had attracted global attention.

A poor League in 2013 meant some of us doubted if Donegal could turn it on again come Championship but last Sunday in Ballybofey showed we were very wrong. If anything, Donegal might be even better this year and McGuinness’ incredible run in Ulster continues.

The question now is how long does he want to go on. He has a job for life, we imagine, at the helm of Donegal but with other sports increasingly interested in him, a full-time role in pro-sport may appeal. If he does leave Gaelic games, it will be a huge loss to the country as he has taken Gaelic football up a level in just three years. The rest are fighting to keep pace.