Tyrone great Sean Cavanagh has hailed Malachy O’Rourke’s appointment as a coup for the county and a breath of fresh air.
And the treble All-Ireland winner and five-time Allstar believes the new manager’s in-depth knowledge of Tyrone football will give him a head start in settling into the job.
O’Rourke has brought success to Fermanagh and Monaghan, as well as a number of clubs, including Glen, who won the All-Ireland Club title this year under his guidance.
“Malachy has been the most wanted man in football this last number of years in every county.
“I think it’s a massive coup for Tyrone to get him,” said Cavanagh.
“I would look at it with optimism and a bit of freshness.”
“Living in Ballygawley, with all the connections he has with the Errigal club as well, he’ll know the county.”
Cavanagh expects O’Rourke to draw heavily on an exciting wave of young players who have won two of the last three All-Irekand U20 titles as he begins the process of building a team to challenge again at the top level.
“I have no doubt that Malachy will try with the young players coming from the U20 winning teams.
“Tyrone is a big county, we have a lot of quality in it.”
The Moy man, who still plays for his club at age 41, wants to see the new boss trawl the county’s junior and intermediate levels for undiscovered talents.
Currently, only two players from the 31 clubs in those grades are members of the Tyrone squad.
“I have been playing against a lot of top class players in intermediate this year.
“And I think of all the players (of the NouGhties) that we had – Clann na nGael, with Stevie (O’Neill) and Bran (Dooher), who were down in intermediate, and maybe junior for a while, the likes of Packie McConnell, Mickey McGee with Loughmacrory was intermediate and maybe junior as well.
“We had a lot of top class talent coming from the lower divisions.
“An Intermediate or a Junior club in Tyrone isn’t a weak club, it’s just that we have an incredibly competitive system in Tyrone.
“No doubt, with a fresh approach, as it does with any new manager, everyone will feel that they will have their chance, and hopefully Malachy will cast that net wide and see the talent that’s within this county, because it’s undoubtedly there.”
Armagh’s first All-Ireland triumph in 2002 was followed by Tyrone’s maiden Sam success a year later, and Cavanagh, who lives on the Orchard county boundary, believes the neighbours’ latest breakthrough can stir Tyrone passions.
“When we saw Armagh winning it in ‘02, whenever I was in that team, it was a case of ‘that’s’ our target’, and hopefully that Tyrone dressing room, coming into the winter again, will look at it the same way and say, if Armagh can go and to it, Tyrone can go and do it as well.”
He paid tribute to the work done by previous managers Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher, who led Tyrone to an All-Ireland title in 2001m but he felt the time was right for change.
“That day against Roscommon we were at a low ebb, but I would look at it a little bit differently, and see the young lads that are coming on.
“There were a lot of players blooded this year. We saw that in the league and championship.
“Brian and Feargal have been amazing servants as players and managers, and have done the county proud.
“But I just felt that maybe the time was right, with Feargal’s illness and what-not, that it needed a new injection of energy.”