Meath GAA Performance Course Graduates

A select group of coaches graduated from the Performance Coach Course run by Meath GAA and were presented with their awards by Paul Garrigan. Coaches participating in the course had four modules to complete and all coaches were chosen for the course in advance of its commencement.

Meath GAA were pleased to award our elite coaches with their Performance Coach award. The Meath Football Development Committee (MFDC) were briefed by Coiste na Mí to help improve coaching standards in the county. To that end, the Meath performance coaching course was initiated in 2022. The course targeted existing Level II coaches who have coached or managed at inter-county level, or competitively managed in high level adult competition. The course brought together our best coaches for a series of practical sessions over 8 months. An 80% attendance, or above, was required to secure the award. The sessions were primarily practical ‘peer to peer’ sessions that worked through tactical and technical football problems.

The learning primarily came from working with other coaches, whom they might previously have crossed swords with on a pitch. Working from the game back, the coaches, worked through the principles of play and the phases of play to arrive at solutions. Furthermore, the coaches have helped Meath GAA put together the Meath football coaching curriculum, a body of work that is ongoing, and will help our academy. But that our clubs will benefit from too, as we deliver the curriculum to all our club underage teams through the club pathway programme.

The 17 coaches who completed the programme and were awarded their certificates were:

Barry Callaghan
Cathal O Bric
Conor Gillespie
Conor O’Donoghue
Daithí Whyte
Davy Nelson
Eoin Carroll
Gordon Ward
Jody Devine
John McCarthy
Kevin Reilly
Lar Wall
Ronan Kearns
Sean Murphy
Shane O’Brien
Stephen Morgan
Trevor Giles

Conor Gillespie Biography

Playing Experience

Played for Summerhill (club) and Meath Seniors.

Won 2 Keegan cups in 2011 and 2013 with Summerhill; Part of Meath team that won the Leinster Championship in 2010. Played for Meath from 2010 – 2015. Retired due to injury at 26.

Coaching Experience

Following the conclusion of my playing career, I have been involved with all levels of club, underage and Senior in various roles (Managing, coaching, selecting). Currently manager of Summerhill Seniors since 2022. Won A League Division 1 in 2022 and Meath SFC in 2023.

I have been a selector/coach with Meath Underage ( u-15 – Minor) while also doing a selector role with Meath Juniors in 2017 (Leinster JFC Champions 2017).

Football 2035

It is very difficult to determine the level of change that is coming or what will be of value in 10 – 15 years from now with rule changes etc. In the absence of specific rule changes I do think there is going to be a continuation of the trend we are seeing now towards “Total Football” … where every player will be required to contribute to attack and defence. Players with skillset on just one side of possession (defending or attacking) will be found out. With this in mind I would see a few practical examples:

1. All Goalkeepers in Meath should be trained to be sweeper keepers alongside traditional goal duties. 15 man attack in possession is a trend that will only increase.

2. All forwards must be able to tackle in 1v1 situations. Forwards are being dragged into their own half / 45 at times now. Missed tackles in this area of pitch are more dangerous than in traditional Full forward line positions where still 100 yards from goal

3. Every outfield player must be able to score and contribute to the attack. While there will always be more natural “shooters”, the more players that can shoot the more players that need to be defended, the easier it is to open up space. (Example here is current basketball trend where there is a premium on every player being capable of shooting a 3 pointer… this means all players have to be defended and the space on the court is opened up allowing for more scoring) This is part of wider trend in general across sports of traditionally niche or defensive roles in a sport being asked to contribute way more to attack (Rugby – ball playing props like porter and furlong , hookers playing like centres or back rows now – Dan sheehan; Soccer – Trent alexander arnold ex midfielder key attacker even though a right back, inverted full backs/defenders now being asked to play in midfield – John stones, Keepers have to be able to resist a press now – Ederson; Basketball centre position now are expected to be big men with small men skills – Nikola Jokic etc; GAA – Tom O Sullivan 3rd highest scorer from play for Kerry, how many key goals has Sean Kelly scored for Galway last couple of years)

Looking at All Ireland winners history, generally the most reliable indicator is which team is the best at scoring. This trend occurs across almost all sports. The team that is most likely to score the most in a season is generally the most likely to win. This obviously has to be balanced with a sound defence but in all sports defence is generally easier than attack. So if attacking play is the premium then I think the majority of our Academy focus should be on the skills required for that. (Dual sided players, Kick passing ability for progressive passes and point scoring, handling and ball control to be able to be press resistant or attacking in confined spaces, ability to beat men 1v1 etc).

One other point where I think Meath as a county could gain an edge from the coaching side. Kickouts on both sides and winning that possession battle has more to do with the organisation and set up of the team than the skill set of the players. There will obviously be certain contested situations where players’ fielding ability will be a factor, but for the most part organisation will be the most important thing. Shared learning from the Meath Senior team, down to 20s and minors (competitive grades) and back up about strategies used, success rates, learnings etc could provide an edge to our underage sides. Each game will have approx 35-50 of these set piece events (I don’t see why we shouldn’t aim to be the best in Ireland at them) using a shared knowledge and building on previous success/failures etc of teams at same grade or higher or lower grades.

Jody Devine Biography

2011-2013 – Manager/Coach of Gaeil Colmcille. Won promotion from Division 3 to Division 1 & won the Meath intermediate championship in 2013.
2015-2017 – Manager /Coach of Bective GFC winning the Tailteann cup & Meath junior championship in 2016.
2018-2020 – Manager of Laragh Utd in Cavan winning the Cavan Intermediate championship in 2019.
2021-2022 – Manager of Killygarry GFC and reached the 2022 Cavan Senior Final
2023 – Manager of St Colmcilles GFC and reached the Division 1 League