Kerry GAA have announced that they intend to appoint Jack O’Connor as their new senior football manager in what will be his third term in charge of the side.
The news comes 18 days after the 60-year-old left the Kildare senior footballers, citing travel as a reason for his departure.
O’Connor has been in charge of Kerry twice before for a total of seven seasons and brought three All-Ireland titles and four provincial crowns to the county in that time as well as three National League titles.
He guided Kildare to Division 1 this year and the side also reached the Leinster final for the first time since 2017 but failed to get past Dublin, who have only lost one in the provincial championship since 2005.
He will be joined by former Kerry footballers Diarmuid Murphy and Mike Quirke who will join his new backroom as selectors.
Murphy was a selector with the inter-county side under O’Connor during his second spell in charge of the Kingdom and continued in his role when Fitzmaurice, who he replaced, returned to the county setup as the head coach.
Murphy was part of Fitzmaurice’s backroom when they brought the Sam Maguire Cup back to Kerry after a five-year drought in 2014.
A man synonymous with Kerry’s All-Ireland successes in the 20th century, the Dingle native now joins a backroom tasked with ending what will be an eight-year drought in 2022.
Mike Quirke was recently in charge of the Laois senior footballers, leaving his post after two years following a poor run of form.
Both men had played under O’Connor during his two previous spells with the pair picking up all three All-Ireland titles alongside the Dromid Pearses clubman.
Former All-Ireland winner Stephen Stack was also interviewed for the role and an all-star management team was rumoured to have been assembled by Stack.
The Kerry GAA statement says that “The Management Committee of Kerry GAA will be proposing the following names for ratification at our next County Committee meeting scheduled for Monday, 4th October 2021.
